Nowhere did I say the Lakers should:

i) Pay Bynum less than Bogut or Okafor are getting from their teams; or,

ii) Hold up their negotiations with Bynum.

Neither did I say anything about salaries which were paid by any team in a prior year.

Sorry, but, I have no idea where you got these notions from reading my message(s) in this thread.

What I said was …

The contracts signed by Bogut and Okafor (i.e. pertaining to this off-season) are not necessarily the ‘Baseline Measure’ for what an effective Big Man SHOULD be paid in the current NBA marketplace.

As is … mine was NOT a statement made to PROVE A POINT or SOLVE a problem, per se.

My statement was an observation which is pertinent to the Lakers/Bynum negotiations.

i.e. If Bynum’s eventual salary/contract comes in at a dollar value which is MORE than Bogut/Okafor then someone could legitimately say that the deals Bogut & Okafor have signed are the Baseline Measure, in comparison to Bynum’s (and perhaps others); if Bynum’s eventual salary/contract comes in at a dollar value which is LESS than Bogut/Okafor then someone could legitimately say that the deal Bynum will have signed is the Baseline Measure, in comparison to Bougt/Okafor (and perhaps others). It works both ways. Capeche?

At this point, however (during the off-season), after making the decision not to re-sign Ronny Turiaf (a significant loss, IMO, at least from a chemistry standpoint, if nothing else), it is still a wait-and-see proposition, as to what the Lakers’ actual/final line-up is going to look like come the fall.

Not signing Artest was a terrific move by Mitch K. & Co.

Who they pick-up to replace Turiaf, if they choose to go that route (or not), will be a critical factor in deciding their fate come June/2009.

I think you’re right in a historical sense. Gasol should have been traded for Odom, since Pau was brought in as a power forward.

With Bynum coming back this year, Lamar becomes the odd man out–either by being asked to play the 3–or because Bynum’s additional salary needs to come from somewhere.

re: his status as a SHOULD BE league all-star

Jose Calderon, no doubt, whatsoever.

2) The entire premise of the initial topic is inaccurate, as the contracts signed by Bogut and Okafor do NOT automatically represent the ‘Baseline’ for re-upped salaries by effective Big Men in the NBA’s current marketplace.

Baseline denotes a flatline, bottom-end measurement. There is no indication where those two contracts stand on the continuum of NBA salaries … i.e. they could be in the Middle, at the Bottom or at the Top … as far as effective Big Men. Only time and more signings will tell.

Food For Thought

Bynum is a dilemma of sorts. His injury is bittersweet for us even though we know we still have a full year of audition.

Drray, I have shared your view countless of times. Allow me to disagree a bit this time on our otherwise unbeatable tandem.

As I have said, the question of losing Lamar has NOTHING to do with Bynum’s expected and supposed extension. He is a player of his own and he brings to the table what the team sorely needs – defense and interior presence which we have sorely missed since the “big aristotle/diesel/cactus/underrated” left.

If we begin once more to tap the topic about Lamar, its the Gasol deal that did him in. If ever the business or basketball decision comes to its close, Lamar will be traded because of Gasol, not because of Drew.

I think Andre Miller is overrated. Dude’s 32 already, and all we ever here is he’s finally with the right team, or situation…blah, blah, blah…every year. Has he ever led a good team?