2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers Thread

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
If my calculations are correct and league revenue grows at a reasonable rate, we might actually be able to nab 3 legit stars through free agency over the next couple of years, provided that two of them are coming off of their rookie extension. For example...

2016-17 Lakers

PG: Rajon Rondo $17.65M
SG:
SF: Kevin Durant 22.3M
PF: James McAdoo $2.2M (12th pick in the '14 Draft)
C: Marc Gasol $17.65M

That's $57.6M in projected salary, and our '16 pick (likely late teens, early 20's w/Rondo & Gasol) would make about 1.4M, taking us to $59M in committed salary. The projected salary cap for 2014-15 is $62.1M, so what might it be in '16-17? Is it reasonable to say $66M or so? If so, we could sign a couple of $2.5-3M level players, then a third with the room exception, and then fill out the roster with vet minimum players. Ultimately, that would be a roster with 1 superstar (Durant), 2 solid all-stars (Rondo, Gasol), 1 talented young player going into his 3rd year (McAdoo), 3 role players in the $2.5M - $3M range, 1 rookie in the late teens/early 20's, and a couple of decent vet min guys. That's a title contender that's top heavy but also has a rotation that's 8-9 deep.

I really, really hope that if we miss out on LeBron, we're patient and try to land cheaper max-level guys the next year. Please, no Melo.

You think Kobe is only going to sign a 1 year deal?

I don't get why everybody keeps insisting that we Laker fans hate lebron. I mean, I used to make fun of him for always choking, but I never hated the guy.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
I don't get why everybody keeps insisting that we Laker fans hate lebron. I mean, I used to make fun of him for always choking, but I never hated the guy.

Even if you did you would still want him to come to the Lakers.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

I don't get why everybody keeps insisting that we Laker fans hate lebron. I mean, I used to make fun of him for always choking, but I never hated the guy.

Even if you did you would still want him to come to the Lakers.

Indeed. I'm not so proud that I wouldn't want the best player in the game on my team. lol

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
I don't get why everybody keeps insisting that we Laker fans hate lebron. I mean, I used to make fun of him for always choking, but I never hated the guy.

Seriously? Maybe not you, I haven't seen you trash him, but almost every Laker fan I know has talked a lot of s**t about him. I'm surprised that you don't get that.

Just to fuel the "wet dream" fire...

Paul George would find it tough to snub the Los Angeles Lakers should the team attempt to sign him next summer.George will be a restricted free agent after the 2013-14 season if he doesn't sign an extension.

"My heart is still in Indiana ... I'm still a Pacer, and hopefully I remain a Pacer," George said when asked about his upcoming free agency. "I'm happy where I'm at."

A native of California, George was born in Palmdale and grew up cheering for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

"Of course it would be tough (to say no to Kobe)," said George. "You're talking about playing (at) home."

Originally posted by sacniner:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

I don't get why everybody keeps insisting that we Laker fans hate lebron. I mean, I used to make fun of him for always choking, but I never hated the guy.

Seriously? Maybe not you, I haven't seen you trash him, but almost every Laker fan I know has talked a lot of s**t about him. I'm surprised that you don't get that.

I guess it's probably just a Kobe vs lebron thing.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by sacniner:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
I don't get why everybody keeps insisting that we Laker fans hate lebron. I mean, I used to make fun of him for always choking, but I never hated the guy.

Seriously? Maybe not you, I haven't seen you trash him, but almost every Laker fan I know has talked a lot of s**t about him. I'm surprised that you don't get that.

I guess it's probably just a Kobe vs lebron thing.

Yeah, I think that's the main reason. But, a lot of other fans don't like Lebron because of the whole Decision thing.

Originally posted by GameOver:
I don't hope we miss out on LeBron but I think we aren't getting him regardless. Melo, agreed, would rather he not come here (despite the fact that I'm a fan of his).

But then have you thought about what would happen next summer if we don't land either? We have all that cap space so what do we do with it? And don't think of it from a "what should we do" perspective but more so what have all signs (what has leaked regarding managements mindset as well as past moves can both be used to get a fairly decent forecast) pointed to?

Let's have a couple fixed variables...

1. All RFAs stay with their respective teams.
2. Bron/Melo do not come to LA
3. Pau and Kobe both resign for reasonable contracts, both 2-3 year deals

With that said, we're looking at our own guys (Pau, Kobe, Nash, Sacre) along with the remains of the 2014 FA crop of Luol Deng, Dirk, Danny Granger, maybe Wade/Bosh, Kyle Lowry, and a bunch of other s**t...

If we miss on Melo/Bron, there isn't ANYTHING after that to spend money on but regardless, money will have to be spent (or at least 90% of it). So what's the plan then? You don't want to put it all on Kobe/Pau if you don't have to. You have to remove the mindset that we will just rebuild in a traditional way because all signs point to us NOT doing that (plus, this is a hypothetical situation with fixed variables).

The closest we can get to your situation is if we went after guys like Vince Carter, Dirk, Marion, a few other old guys and offered them all 1-year deals to come to LA and see if they could make it work with Kobe/Pau/Nash. We would basically be merging the Mavericks with us. I don't think it's too far-fetched to say that the chances of that plan coming together are pretty damn low.

P.S. Kurt Rambis was brought onto the coaching staff the other day.

This speaks to my dislike of trying to compete this year. Outside of LeBron, there isn't much that's worth pursuing. Why not trade whomever you can (trading Kobe would be difficult, but pretty much everyone else is movable), improve your pick in '14, and acquire some assets that can be useful later along the way?

However, under your hypothetical scenario (a likely one, IMO), the only fixed variable that I disagree with is the length of Kobe & Pau's contracts. If we can't get LeBron (hopefully we can) or Melo (hopefully we don't), I think we'd give sizable, one year contracts to Kobe & Pau in order to get us to the 90% figure, and just forward the cap space to 2015 when the Rondo/Gasol/Aldridge/Love FA class hits the market. I don't think the Lakers will be willing to give them multi-year deals unless it's at a significant discount. In that scenario, yes...I think we try to sign a bunch of old dudes and become the NBA version of the The Expendables.

I think/hope we keep forwarding cap space forward until we land a couple of big fish.

Originally posted by 9erReign:
You think Kobe is only going to sign a 1 year deal?

I really don't know. I think the Lakers would be willing to give him multiple years at the right price, but there's also the possibility that Kobe signs for a huge, one year deal in '14 with the wink/wink understanding that he'd re-sign for cheap in '15, or for cheap in '14 with the wink/wink understanding that he'd get paid in '15. It'd be illegal, but difficult to prove. Either scenario would help the Lakers acquire a lot more talent and get Kobe paid at close to market value over multiple years.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by GameOver:

I don't hope we miss out on LeBron but I think we aren't getting him regardless. Melo, agreed, would rather he not come here (despite the fact that I'm a fan of his).

But then have you thought about what would happen next summer if we don't land either? We have all that cap space so what do we do with it? And don't think of it from a "what should we do" perspective but more so what have all signs (what has leaked regarding managements mindset as well as past moves can both be used to get a fairly decent forecast) pointed to?

Let's have a couple fixed variables...

1. All RFAs stay with their respective teams.
2. Bron/Melo do not come to LA
3. Pau and Kobe both resign for reasonable contracts, both 2-3 year deals

With that said, we're looking at our own guys (Pau, Kobe, Nash, Sacre) along with the remains of the 2014 FA crop of Luol Deng, Dirk, Danny Granger, maybe Wade/Bosh, Kyle Lowry, and a bunch of other s**t...

If we miss on Melo/Bron, there isn't ANYTHING after that to spend money on but regardless, money will have to be spent (or at least 90% of it). So what's the plan then? You don't want to put it all on Kobe/Pau if you don't have to. You have to remove the mindset that we will just rebuild in a traditional way because all signs point to us NOT doing that (plus, this is a hypothetical situation with fixed variables).

The closest we can get to your situation is if we went after guys like Vince Carter, Dirk, Marion, a few other old guys and offered them all 1-year deals to come to LA and see if they could make it work with Kobe/Pau/Nash. We would basically be merging the Mavericks with us. I don't think it's too far-fetched to say that the chances of that plan coming together are pretty damn low.

P.S. Kurt Rambis was brought onto the coaching staff the other day.

This speaks to my dislike of trying to compete this year. Outside of LeBron, there isn't much that's worth pursuing. Why not trade whomever you can (trading Kobe would be difficult, but pretty much everyone else is movable), improve your pick in '14, and acquire some assets that can be useful later along the way?

However, under your hypothetical scenario (a likely one, IMO), the only fixed variable that I disagree with is the length of Kobe & Pau's contracts. If we can't get LeBron (hopefully we can) or Melo (hopefully we don't), I think we'd give sizable, one year contracts to Kobe & Pau in order to get us to the 90% figure, and just forward the cap space to 2015 when the Rondo/Gasol/Aldridge/Love FA class hits the market. I don't think the Lakers will be willing to give them multi-year deals unless it's at a significant discount. In that scenario, yes...I think we try to sign a bunch of old dudes and become the NBA version of the The Expendables.

I think/hope we keep forwarding cap space forward until we land a couple of big fish.

Enter the Wiggins sweepstakes.

You think Lebron and Melo can play together?

Originally posted by blizzuntz:
Enter the Wiggins sweepstakes.

You think Lebron and Melo can play together?

I'd love for the Lakers to enter the Wiggins sweepstakes, but it doesn't look like that's what they'll do.

I think LeBron & Melo would be similar to LeBron & Wade. LeBron would command the ball (rightfully so) and we'd see Melo "decline". Not an ideal fit, IMO, but if you can get Kobe to come back for cheap, of course you see what you could do with that trio.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by blizzuntz:
Enter the Wiggins sweepstakes.

You think Lebron and Melo can play together?

I'd love for the Lakers to enter the Wiggins sweepstakes, but it doesn't look like that's what they'll do.

I think LeBron & Melo would be similar to LeBron & Wade. LeBron would command the ball (rightfully so) and we'd see Melo "decline". Not an ideal fit, IMO, but if you can get Kobe to come back for cheap, of course you see what you could do with that trio.

You guys are already clearly in the Wiggins sweepstakes (unless you already traded your #1). And LeBron ain't coming to LA for many reasons. Main one being that you guys couldn't put enough help around him to win right away.

Originally posted by 9erReign:
You guys are already clearly in the Wiggins sweepstakes (unless you already traded your #1). And LeBron ain't coming to LA for many reasons. Main one being that you guys couldn't put enough help around him to win right away.

I dunno, LeBron is all about being a celebrity and going to LA or NY makes the most sense from celebrity/advertising stand point IMO.

Originally posted by 9erReign:
You guys are already clearly in the Wiggins sweepstakes (unless you already traded your #1). And LeBron ain't coming to LA for many reasons. Main one being that you guys couldn't put enough help around him to win right away.

Lakers won't be bad enough to be in the Wiggins sweepstakes this year. I'd be shocked if we picked higher than #7.

I don't think LeBron would come to LA either, but he'd get about $21M on a max contract in LA, leaving the Lakers with $41M to put a team around him. If they got LeBron but not Melo, IMO they could definitely put a title team around him in that first year.