From all apparent indications, the Orlando Magic’s new GM, Rob Hennigan, is taking an uber cautious approach when it comes to trading Dwight Howard. It’s probably a wise choice, Howard being the biggest chip on his table by far. There’s some talk of any prospective deal being shelved until the deadline but what else is he going to say? If the right deal presents itself, he’ll take it. None of us knows what that really means, he has received plenty of proposals and none has floated his boat so far. As for the Lakers, management will have to decide on the best course of action with regards to Andrew Bynum, an elite big man who’s been with the team since the age of 17. My guess would be that there’s some sort of plan beyond waiting on Orlando. Then again, we all remember how last season played out with Pau. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that his happiness factor was compromised just a wee bit. Lessons learned, hopefully.
Janis Carr at the OC Register wonders if Andrew is here to stay.
Andy Kamenetzky at the Land O’Lakers, writes about Christian Eyenga and summer league play.
Mark Medina at the L.A. Times has five things to take from Team USA’s win over Spain.
Kelly Dwyer at Ball Don’t Lie, examines Shaq’s displeasure with Orlando, as regards the coaching search and Brian Shaw.
LJ Hann at Clips Nation, looks at Adam Morrison’s summer stand, and urges the Clippers to pay the man.
Ryan Ward at Lakers Nation wonders if Michael Redd would be a good fit for the team, and also reports on interest being shown in Roger Mason.
James Herbert writes one of his typically fine articles for Hardwood Paroxysm, this time about Jerome Randle, a player on the fringe.
Ian Levy takes a look at the aging of basketball players, also for Hardwood Paroxysm.
***
For now, the week proceeds apace. Jordan Hill’s back in the fold, making for a nice, deep bench when it comes to the bigs rotations. There were some quick rumors about Delonte West before the Mavericks re-upped him. Here on the FB&G front, J.M. introduced a great best-of series, and will keep it rolling throughout the coming weeks. Other tasty features are looming as well. If anything of the urgent news variety comes across our feeds, we’ll break into the regularly scheduled programming. Y’all do the same, please.
– Dave Murphy
Robert says
Dave M: Hennigan is keeping his most valuable chip for now, however as is the case with Poker, he may find that he would have been best to play his hand now. Waiting is not always the most cautious move : )
rr: Agreed – the back ups will matter alot. They will matter as to whether we are actually 3rd best or perhaps as low as 5th or dare I say it : ) At this point – whoever we sign will indeed be a vagabond almost by definition. Could still be good. Jamison is a vagabond – albeit a good one. My basic point is not that we can’t be good or can’t improve, but that we need more than a decent back up sg to win the title.
Kevin/Cayucos: Yes – the move has always made sense because the Orlando garbage is an upgrade for us.
KenOak/BusBoys: The Bleacher report rule does not apply to D12. The reason is that there is no credible source on D12. So a Bleacher report or a Robert rant is as credible as ESPN on that topic. We have a year of erroneous statements to point to, with ESPN analyst names on them.
Paul says
Why doesn’t Mitch come out and say that the Laker organization is willing to commit to Andrew as its franchise center if he is willing to sign an extension now. This accomplishes two things. It puts pressure on Bynum to sign an extension and it makes Orlando fear it might lose another potential trading partner.
Kevin_ says
Dodgers got Hanley in a steal. Kupchak is rubbing off on Coletti. But I am looking forward to Simers column on this.
Shaq does have a point on Orlando’s situation. Every superstar has left that team on bad terms. Leaks, bribes back stabbing Orlando fans are getting their money’s worth with this soap opera.
Good links! Enjoy the sunshine today Laker fans.
MannyP says
God I wish the DHoward mess would just end. I’m getting tired of reading about it.
Mikey P says
Trade or don’t trade just do something already!
david h says
hey dave m: how’s that saying go: the more things change, the more they stay the same?
happy wednesday “humpday” storylines right back at ya. do appreciate the fb&g updates and story lines. how else to spend idle moments but to contemplate the ‘ol laker blue and gold, or was it purple and gold or is it just gold to keep the laker faithful on hold until the next great laker front office move?
we’re here waiting.
keep the light on for all of us.
Go Lakers !
BigCitySid says
I’m glad to see the Lakers have interest in Roger Mason. He would be a very good fit backing up Kobe. He’s 6’5, plays “D”, accepted the vet minimum for Washington last year, can give the Lakers 15-18 solid minutes (would love to keep Kobe at 30-33 minutes per this season) and I believe he can hit the open jumper.
Biggest issue as stated, OKC is also interested.
Your move Roger.
ryan says
2. Bynum is not going to sign an extension for the same reasons that Dwight and CP3 are not going to sign extension. If they sign an extension they can only get 3 yr contract. If they sign a new contract they can get 5 years. That is a lot of money to leave behind. Especially with Drew’s injury history.
Signed draft picks (from Houston) can not be traded til the 5th of August. Despite Hennigan saying that he might try and keep Dwight, my guess is that he will be traded soon after that.
Michael H says
Robert,
If you believe that the Magic is better then ours, you haven’t been paying attention. Hedu has been a shell of himself for 2 years. He would have no value what so ever. And with the signing of Hill and Jamison, the FO seems to agree. Same could be said for Big Baby, if Mitch was interested we never would have signed Hill. At this stage of his career, Morris beats out Duhon. That leaves Richardson, the only player that would be an upgrade. That is why the FO said they would take him and that is why they haven’t addressed the SG yet. I can almost guarentee that you will not see Hedu, Big Baby or Duhon.
KenOak says
#8
I thought that the difference was only 1 year in the extension? So, if Bynum extends he would get a 4 year deal. His situation is actually a little different in that he might be willing to extend as insurance against a knee injury. There is no guarantee for him to finish this next year healthy and he knows that.
Kevin_ says
I may be in the minority but I believe it’s in Bynum’s best interest to sign an extension but only with the Lakers. He’s 24 if he signs a 3 yr extensions and it’s added onto his current yr left he’ll be 28 when it’s over. If all things go well another max is in play. If he waits til the off season he’ll be 30 and may only be in play for 1 year deals after that even if all things go well. His agent said he’s only said good things about the Lakers maybe that’s just agent talk.
Kevin_ says
I’ve said since the end of the season Lakers can’t go into this season without Bynum under an extension. I think Lakers need to give him teh Mark Sanchez treatment.
KenOak: Just saw your post we basically said the same thing.
sbdunks says
KenOak, 3 years for an extension, 4 years if he becomes a UFA and signs with another team and 5 years if he becomes a UFA and re-signs with the Lakers.
Which is why no max $$$ level player is going to sign an extension; not Deron, not CP3, not Dwight, not Bynum.
With Bynum’s injury history, he may be well served to sign the extension now, but I’m positive his agent, like any/every other agent, will push for him to become an unrestricted free agent for the max amount of money.
Tra says
Ice Cube, on ESPN First Take this morning, responding to Stephen A. Smith’s question in regards to who would he rather have right now, Bynum or Howard?
“Right now, I’ll keep Andrew Bynum. Here’s why: Dwight, you got to want it man. You got to want to come and want to be part of the Legacy. You got to want to have your jersey up on that wall. If you don’t want that, you need to stay where you’re at …”
An honest and respectful answer coming from an avid, life-long Lakers Fan.
BigCitySid says
So the real question is why would any team want to lock up Bynum &/or D-12 (coming off back surgery) if there is a question of their health? If the player is willing to take a chance, why not the club?
rr says
This is from the other thread:
__________
The Lakers do not “need” D12 to win it all. That’s ridiculous, really. They were *this* close to defeating OKC with what they had last year. If the bench hadn’t been *AWFUL* and anyone besides Kobe had been able to shoot, they’d have stolen that series.
______________
First, most people here get this, but it bears repeating: the Lakers were far closer to being swept in that series than they were to winning it.
Second, while Robert’s oracular pronouncements and repeated scare-quotes catch phrases can get tiresome, he is at this point mostly right about Howard, and I think the FO knows it, which is why they have not signed Ebanks and/or offered Bynum a big extension. The Lakers’ lineup as of now features the following ages/NBA exp:
pg 39/17th year
sg 34/17th year
sf 33/14th year
pf 32 /13th year
6th man 36/14th year
In addition, the youngish center is very slow, and the backup PG is 32/11th year. Finally, the two main adds, Nash and Jamison, have been below average/poor defensive players for most of their careers and will be 39 and 36 when the 2013 playoffs open.
So, if you are going to hold this team together on defense enough to win the title, what you need is a full-force disruptive big man defensive anchor, in the Garnett/Chandler/Howard mode. There are not many guys like that around, and Bynum, although he is a very good lane-clogger and rim protector, is not in that class as a defender due to his lack of mobility.
THAT is why Howard matters and THAT is why the Lakers have to hang in there with this.
That said, Ronnie Brewer really would have helped. He is a young, d-first guy who could have played 20 minutes a game backing up Kobe, with Kobe sliding to the 3 some nights, depending on game situations and matchups. He is also, unlike a guy like Roger Mason, a player you can comfortably put into the lineup for a month or six weeks if Kobe goes down. I don’t know that Brewer would have come here, but he is the first backup wing they have missed on that really made me shake my head a little.
Laker Time says
Honestly doesn’t it benefit Orlando to hold on to Howard until February? By then all the free agents that have signed will be on the table again? I wonder if this may be a sign Howard will be out the first couple months of the season?
KenOak says
sbdunks/Kevin_
That makes sense. If Bynum were to sign an extension with us, then (as per kevin’s numbers) he would be 28 when the deal ends. That’s time enough for another max level extension.
I kinda agree with BigCitySid too. If I were running a team, then I would want to see how Bynum or Howard performed this year in a full season for Drew and after a injury for Dwight.
T. Rogers says
Orlando’s problem is the same as it’s ever been. Dwight has made it plain he won’t stay long term unless he is going to the Nets or Lakers. It is one thing to ask a team (other than those two) to risk renting him when they get him for a full season plus training camp.
However, who wants that same rental at the half season mark? How can a team who needs to convince Dwight do that on the fly while trying to rework their entire system around him? No team who has to convince him to stay will send valuable assets at the trade deadline. If the Nets are holding out for the trade deadline its either LA or Brooklyn offering the same deals they have already offered.
Josh says
#16
Sure, they were closer to being swept- as constructed at the time. But with no real subtraction and the addition of Nash and Jamison to keep their offense from stalling out, do you really think the series would have had the same results? They almost completely controlled the pace of that series. An actual spark off the bench and a PG who spreads the floor is not going to choke in the playoffs and it’s a totally different ballgame. OKC is not this titanic behemoth team that everyone is making them out to be- they’re young and fast. So what? They also play fast and loose and are prone to making a lot of mistakes that they make up for by sheer athleticism. They were completely outclassed by Miami.
This is already a VERY different team with Nash and Jamison added. If a decent wing who can take minutes from Kobe and produce is added this team absolutely can beat OKC and Miami. D12 would add some improvement on D and certainly would be a better PnR partner for Nash than Bynum, but is it a do or die situation? No. Is it worth losing out on shoring up the bench with some decent players to wait around as this circus continues to drag on? Also, no. If the Magic thought Bynum for D12 was great for them, this move would have happened already. It hasn’t, so let them drag their feet and move on.