2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers Thread

Originally posted by GameOver:

Love it. Well deserved. Was my favorite player growing up.

Looking forward to seeing what pose/move they decide on for the statue.

Lakers are a complete disgrace right now to previously mentioned statue.

Originally posted by ninerjok:

Originally posted by GameOver:

Love it. Well deserved. Was my favorite player growing up.

Looking forward to seeing what pose/move they decide on for the statue.

Lakers are a complete disgrace right now to previously mentioned statue.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by GameOver:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
Lakers are giving Shaq a statue outside of staples center, joining Jerry West, Kareem, Magic, And Chick Hearn as the Lakers greats outside the building. Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya are the only non Lakers with statues outside the arena.

Love it. Well deserved. Was my favorite player growing up.

Looking forward to seeing what pose/move they decide on for the statue.

Thats actually really cool.

^Super cool. Into it.

So I know we're gonna go all in on this whole Kevin Durant thing. And don't get me wrong, I'd love for it to happen but...I'm going to tone down the optimism a bit.

Realistically, I think we should be shooting to grab two of the following:

DeMar Derozan
Al Horford
Nicolas Batum
Harrison Barnes (RFA)
Hassan Whiteside

I like Bradley Beal a lot but I'm going to pretend like D-Lo and Clarkson are our backcourt of the future. Whiteside/Horford are the bigs that stand out, Horford being a really good player who'll be 30 by the time the summer rolls around. I honestly don't mind giving him a 4 year deal. Coupling that with Derozan would give us something like D-Lo-Clarkson-Derozan-Randle-Horford. I honestly LOVE the potential and thought of Whiteside but I have a couple friends who are Heat fans who think he's putting up shallow numbers. I haven't seen enough of him to comment personally but the idea behind him is very very tempting.

As far as what we have on the roster for next year...

Lou Williams
Nick Young
D'Angelo Russell
Julius Randle
Larry Nance Jr
Anthony Brown

That comes out to about $23 million. Projections are the cap should hit $89 million or so. That gives us $66 million to play with, including the fact we have to resign Jordan Clarkson. I think the most a team can offer him is 4 years $58 million. So $15 million goes to the side for him and we're left with $51 million. I mean, someone like Horford or Derozan's going to cost $25 mill/year. So we basically have room for two max's. That's presuming Mitch doesn't work magic and ship out Lou this year (which I still think he'll manage to do). Love Lou but he just needs to go.

I think our best bet is to overpay for Whiteside (scares me to say that but s**t...) and bring Derozan back home. I could see Whiteside saying f**k it and yes to big money/Los Angeles while Derozan coming home isn't too farfetched of an idea.

PG – D-Lo
SG – Jordan Clarkson
SF – DeMar Derozan
PF – Julius Randle
C – Hassan Whiteside

Randle develops a decent 3-point shot/jumper over the next year, maybe this works. And by "works", I mean we win 40 games. All pending development of the young guns with Bean gone and hopefully a new coach in and what not.

The Atlanta Hawks are expected to listen to offers for Al Horford before the Feb. 18th deadline.

Horford has enjoyed playing for the Hawks but he's expected to explore free agency.

"Obviously, my focus right now is on the season, the team and the things I need to do," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "That's kind of where I am going to leave it."

As a Spanish speaker, Horford could have more opportunities in another market.

"Atlanta has the potential for a guy like myself to maximize [the business] part of it," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "But obviously there are other cities, bigger cities that are more appealing probably [business- and marketing-wise]. The impact would be bigger if that is what you are looking for."

Horford was the third overall pick by the Hawks in 2007 out of Florida.

"The city itself is a great city," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "People are great. This Hawks' organization is moving in the right direction. With the new ownership, with the coach, I really feel good about the future of the Hawks."

Well then...HORFORD IT IS!

Edit: Not as a trade option. Unless anyone in their wildest imagination think Atlanta would do Jeff Teague and Horford for Jordan Clarkson, Roy Hibbert, and Lou Williams. Which I don't even think that works out salary wise. Ha. Just have to hope Horford doesn't get shipped or if he does, he doesn't go somewhere like Miami.

Holy s**t we won! And Kobe balled out with 38!

Originally posted by GameOver:

The Atlanta Hawks are expected to listen to offers for Al Horford before the Feb. 18th deadline.

Horford has enjoyed playing for the Hawks but he's expected to explore free agency.

"Obviously, my focus right now is on the season, the team and the things I need to do," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "That's kind of where I am going to leave it."

As a Spanish speaker, Horford could have more opportunities in another market.

"Atlanta has the potential for a guy like myself to maximize [the business] part of it," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "But obviously there are other cities, bigger cities that are more appealing probably [business- and marketing-wise]. The impact would be bigger if that is what you are looking for."

Horford was the third overall pick by the Hawks in 2007 out of Florida.

"The city itself is a great city," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "People are great. This Hawks' organization is moving in the right direction. With the new ownership, with the coach, I really feel good about the future of the Hawks."

Well then...HORFORD IT IS!

Edit: Not as a trade option. Unless anyone in their wildest imagination think Atlanta would do Jeff Teague and Horford for Jordan Clarkson, Roy Hibbert, and Lou Williams. Which I don't even think that works out salary wise. Ha. Just have to hope Horford doesn't get shipped or if he does, he doesn't go somewhere like Miami.

No thanks. He'll be 30 years old and on his 10th season. Will probably want a big contract as well.

Hopefully we go all out for Durant and DeRozan, and we can go get Noah for cheap. Whiteside will also be a possibility if we can't land both Durant and DeRozan.

Durant and DeRozan should be top priority, but we should also be in talks with Beal and Batum if we can't get Durant or DeRozan.

Originally posted by TheHYDE49er:

Originally posted by GameOver:

The Atlanta Hawks are expected to listen to offers for Al Horford before the Feb. 18th deadline.

Horford has enjoyed playing for the Hawks but he's expected to explore free agency.

"Obviously, my focus right now is on the season, the team and the things I need to do," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "That's kind of where I am going to leave it."

As a Spanish speaker, Horford could have more opportunities in another market.

"Atlanta has the potential for a guy like myself to maximize [the business] part of it," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "But obviously there are other cities, bigger cities that are more appealing probably [business- and marketing-wise]. The impact would be bigger if that is what you are looking for."

Horford was the third overall pick by the Hawks in 2007 out of Florida.

"The city itself is a great city," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "People are great. This Hawks' organization is moving in the right direction. With the new ownership, with the coach, I really feel good about the future of the Hawks."

Well then...HORFORD IT IS!

Edit: Not as a trade option. Unless anyone in their wildest imagination think Atlanta would do Jeff Teague and Horford for Jordan Clarkson, Roy Hibbert, and Lou Williams. Which I don't even think that works out salary wise. Ha. Just have to hope Horford doesn't get shipped or if he does, he doesn't go somewhere like Miami.

No thanks. He'll be 30 years old and on his 10th season. Will probably want a big contract as well.

Hopefully we go all out for Durant and DeRozan, and we can go get Noah for cheap. Whiteside will also be a possibility if we can't land both Durant and DeRozan.

Durant and DeRozan should be top priority, but we should also be in talks with Beal and Batum if we can't get Durant or DeRozan.

Durant AND DeRozan? Unless we plan on moving KD to the 4, then that's a lot of money to be throwing at either Clarkson or DeRozan to be coming off the bench.

Originally posted by GameOver:

Originally posted by TheHYDE49er:

Originally posted by GameOver:

The Atlanta Hawks are expected to listen to offers for Al Horford before the Feb. 18th deadline.

Horford has enjoyed playing for the Hawks but he's expected to explore free agency.

"Obviously, my focus right now is on the season, the team and the things I need to do," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "That's kind of where I am going to leave it."

As a Spanish speaker, Horford could have more opportunities in another market.

"Atlanta has the potential for a guy like myself to maximize [the business] part of it," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "But obviously there are other cities, bigger cities that are more appealing probably [business- and marketing-wise]. The impact would be bigger if that is what you are looking for."

Horford was the third overall pick by the Hawks in 2007 out of Florida.

"The city itself is a great city," Horford told Yahoo Sports. "People are great. This Hawks' organization is moving in the right direction. With the new ownership, with the coach, I really feel good about the future of the Hawks."

+ Show all quotes
Well then...HORFORD IT IS!

Edit: Not as a trade option. Unless anyone in their wildest imagination think Atlanta would do Jeff Teague and Horford for Jordan Clarkson, Roy Hibbert, and Lou Williams. Which I don't even think that works out salary wise. Ha. Just have to hope Horford doesn't get shipped or if he does, he doesn't go somewhere like Miami.

No thanks. He'll be 30 years old and on his 10th season. Will probably want a big contract as well.

Hopefully we go all out for Durant and DeRozan, and we can go get Noah for cheap. Whiteside will also be a possibility if we can't land both Durant and DeRozan.

Durant and DeRozan should be top priority, but we should also be in talks with Beal and Batum if we can't get Durant or DeRozan.

Durant AND DeRozan? Unless we plan on moving KD to the 4, then that's a lot of money to be throwing at either Clarkson or DeRozan to be coming off the bench.

There would simply be no reason for Kevin Durant to leave OKC to go to the Lakers. He has a good situation now and can make the most money possible to stay with the Thunder. I think the only reason he goes anywhere is to win now (Warriors) or to go home (Washington). I can see DeRozan though if they give him a max deal.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

There would simply be no reason for Kevin Durant to leave OKC to go to the Lakers. He has a good situation now and can make the most money possible to stay with the Thunder. I think the only reason he goes anywhere is to win now (Warriors) or to go home (Washington). I can see DeRozan though if they give him a max deal.

Things don't always happen because they make the most sense. It made no sense for shaq to leave the Lakers when he had the better chance at more titles if he stayed in LA.

Kobe tearing it up lately

Originally posted by jrg:
Kobe tearing it up lately

next comes his other knee

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by jrg:

Kobe tearing it up lately

next comes his other knee

Just cuz he dropped 38 on your boys don't mean you gotta say dick s**t like that.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
There would simply be no reason for Kevin Durant to leave OKC to go to the Lakers. He has a good situation now and can make the most money possible to stay with the Thunder. I think the only reason he goes anywhere is to win now (Warriors) or to go home (Washington). I can see DeRozan though if they give him a max deal.

Things don't always happen because they make the most sense. It made no sense for shaq to leave the Lakers when he had the better chance at more titles if he stayed in LA.

True but he went to a team with a young superstar in Wade and was at the point of no return with the Lakers given his relationship with Kobe and the fact that Phil was leaving. Given all that was going on it probably did make sense for him to leave and win a title elsewhere. He had nothing really left to prove with the Lakers and he had a chance to win a title in Miami.

Anything could happen obviously but I would be very surprised if Durant did go to the Lakers given all the alternatives he will have. If he wants the most money he stays with OKC. If he wants the best chance to win titles he goes to the Warriors. If he wants to play for his hometown like Lebron he goes to Washington.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

There would simply be no reason for Kevin Durant to leave OKC to go to the Lakers. He has a good situation now and can make the most money possible to stay with the Thunder. I think the only reason he goes anywhere is to win now (Warriors) or to go home (Washington). I can see DeRozan though if they give him a max deal.

Things don't always happen because they make the most sense. It made no sense for shaq to leave the Lakers when he had the better chance at more titles if he stayed in LA.

True but he went to a team with a young superstar in Wade and was at the point of no return with the Lakers given his relationship with Kobe and the fact that Phil was leaving. Given all that was going on it probably did make sense for him to leave and win a title elsewhere. He had nothing really left to prove with the Lakers and he had a chance to win a title in Miami.

Anything could happen obviously but I would be very surprised if Durant did go to the Lakers given all the alternatives he will have. If he wants the most money he stays with OKC. If he wants the best chance to win titles he goes to the Warriors. If he wants to play for his hometown like Lebron he goes to Washington.

Yeah, pretty much all of that seems right. I think they have a better chance at getting Westbrook. Maybe on a sign and trade for clarkson. Word is he really wants to come home and with Kobe retiring he'll be the new era hero for the Lakers.