We are about six week away from the start of training camp and the Lakers are making moves to finalize their roster in the lead up to camp. While the team will likely carry as many as 20 players into the preseason, I expect the team to carry no more than 14 once the regular campaign starts.
Of those guys who I fully believe will make the final cut, one will surely be Jordan Clarkson, the rookie (point) guard who the Lakers selected with the 46th pick in this past draft. It was announced this week that Clarkson was officially signed to his rookie deal, a formality that many had been waiting for. The terms of the deal were not released, but per Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times and Basketball Insiders, Clarkson’s deal is a two year contract with the first season fully guaranteed at a shade over $500K and the second year not guaranteed at nearly $850K. Considering the Lakers paid $1.8 million for the right to even draft Clarkson, it’s no surprise that his contract is structured the way that it is.
I will admit, I have a slight irrationality towards Clarkson. His combination of size and athleticism paired with his good showing in Las Vegas on the summer league team, leave me thinking he has a future in this league. I have compared his game to Monta Ellis’ and while I don’t envision he will be as good as the former prep-to-pros standout, I do think Clarkson can find his niche as a combo guard who can score and run an offense capably enough to stick in the league for a long time. In a way, he’s a hybrid of two former Lakers’ 2nd round picks, bringing the size that Darius Morris offered and some of the scoring instinct that Andrew Goudelock displayed. What Clarkson has that neither of those two did is an NBA ready quickness (as well as more athleticism than either) — a trait that will surely help him as he adjusts to the pace and tempo of this league compared to what he saw in college.
With that tempo, Clarkson will need to adjust and learn how to run an NBA offense in a way that involves others rather than only looking for his own offense. He can likely survive as a scorer initially, but at some point defenses respond to what you are and you either adapt or fade away to the end of the bench as effectiveness wanes. I have hopes that Clarkson will overcome, but as a second round pick he has a lot of growing to do. I think he can do it, but as I noted before, I’m not fully rational about this one. Time will tell.
Though Clarkson inked his deal, the Lakers are still looking at other players at all positions. According to Sam Amick of USA Today, the Lakers worked out 8 players this week:
After missing out on LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in July, the Lakers held a free agent workout Tuesday in Los Angeles. The workout included forward Michael Beasley; big men Dexter Pittman, Greg Stiemsma, and Daniel Orton; and guards Bobby Brown, Toney Douglas, Ben Hansbrough and Malcolm Lee, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
The name that draws the most attention here, of course, is Michael Beasley’s. This is the 2nd workout the underachieving forward has had with the team. I don’t use that term to discredit Beasley, it is simply the most apt term to describe the former #2 overall pick who has burned bridges (and blunts) with nearly every team he’s come into contact with since he came into the league. Beasley possesses prodigious talent and an ability to let it escape him routinely via poor choices both on and off the court. There is a reason he’s unsigned at this stage of free agency and why he’ll be lucky to latch on with any team for a non-guaranteed minimum salary.
The others names on the list are a mix of big men who offer bulk and the hope of shot blocking and some nondescript guards. The name most people will recognize is Toney Douglass, the former Knick, Warrior, and Heat who will ply his craft in China in the immediate future. The name that interests me the most, however, is Ben Hansbrough, brother of former Pacer (and UNC College Player of the Year) Tyler Hansbrough. Ben went undrafted out of Notre Dame the year the Lakers selected the aforementioned Morris and Goudelock, taking his game to Europe rather than staying stateside. Hansbrough isn’t a very good athlete, but offers grit and and some shooting chops that could land him a gig in the NBA some day.
His name interests me, though, because even with Clarkson on board, the Lakers have to be exploring the idea of signing another point guard unless they want to go into the season having to either 1). depend on Steve Nash for minutes or 2). depend on playing Kobe or Xavier Henry out of position at PG for stretches. Some might be comfortable with just letting Clarkson play backup PG and that may very well be the plan. But one injury means the team is in the same hole they were last year with not enough guards on the roster and scrambling for answers via the D-League or street free agents.
We all saw how that worked out last year (no disrespect to Kendall Marshall), so the team will need to keep all their options open can continue to explore how to sure up the final roster as they transition from Summer, to camp, to the regular season.
TheArmoTrader says
The name there interests me the most from that group is Malcolm Lee.
If you’re going to sign a 14th guy, he’s not gonna get much burn. Why not go with someone who has the most upside, so in case an injury pops up, he’ll have an opportunity to showcase his abilities?
Looking at those names, the youngest ones are Daniel Orton & Malcolm Lee, with both at 24 years old.
Given we have a logjam upfront (though no true center!), I don’t see why we’d sign Orton. So that leaves Lee.
He’s more of a SG/PG type but he has decent defending ability, can score a bit, and handle the ball too. He’s been injured for a lot of his career so MAYBE he just needs that opportunity (doubtful, but not out of the question).
I wouldn’t expect much from him even if he got to play but like I said, I’d rather take a flier on the 14th guy than someone who would be “more ready” (like a Toney Douglas/etc).
In fact, hope we give Keith Appling a deep look, since he is the youngest of all and a true PG.
Aaron says
It’s dry interesting that the same people who say Randle is the only chess piece the Lakers have moving forward currently on their roster are the same people who don’t want the lakers to tank this season. If the Lakers don’t get a top five pick they will still only have one piece going forward instead of two.
pat oslon says
J. Clarkson is going to a solid NBA player in time. If he can get enough playing time early on in order to further develop his skills he could end up being one of the top steals of this years draft . He kind of reminds me of a younger version of Mike Conley. Good solid draft pick. I hope he exceeds expectations.
BigCitySid says
Steimsma over Ryan Hollins?
rr says
Career BLK %:
Stiemsma: 6.1
Hollins: 3.4
This is not to say that Stiemsma is necessarily better than Hollins, but Stiemsma is a guy I brought up earlier, and while he is limited, he does have a couple of specific skills that the Lakers need.
JohnnyP says
Don’t we have enough guards? How about some inside presence. I am not saying I know of anyone, (I only follow the Lakers), but I am not too excited about getting another guard.
Regardless, we will win the championship this year!
GOOOooooOOOOO LAKERS !!!
Nova Bahamut says
Beasley and Stiemsma.
Do it now Mitch!
Hale says
The low post players mentioned are almost Sacre level so I don’t see a need for any of them taking a roster spot.
AusPhil says
Thabeet once he gets waived by Philly? Thoughts?
Vasheed says
I do find it amazing the Lakers signed Hill for 10 million and the center position is so questionable fans are looking at the bottom of the barrel for a guy to fill a significant need. Mind you I believe Hill’s contract is an interesting asset as setup and I think he was one of the better options left to the Lakers once they let go of signing an all-star plan. I feel they would have come up with a better roster if they had abandoned that idea sooner. They managed to get Lin and a pick at the end of the frenzy as Houston tried to sign Bosh. Its looking back now but, it is hard to imagine they could not have gotten more favorable trades when demand was high on other teams to free up cap space.
J C says
Agree Beasley and Stiemsma are prob best two choices now.
I disagree with pundits criticizing the Lakers for “aiming for mediocrity” by trying to sign best available veteran players (Boozer) instead of giving huge minutes to rookies etc.
The team is trying to compete.
Doing its best to sign players after losing Pau, Howard, and missing on Carmelo.
The only player I felt they should have pushed harder for was Lance Stephenson.
I respect the franchise for not phoning it in this year.
Craig W. says
Business is a calculated risk. It is easy to say you should have sold your house in 2004, or shed real estate stocks in 2005. However, how many of us did those things at the time – there were indications we were at the top of things, but most of us simply couldn’t believe it. Things do somewhat run in cycles, but it is not so easy to predict when we are riding high and not so easy to do things when we are not riding high. The Lakers intentionally went all in in 2008, when they traded for Pau. It paid off, but there were consequences in 2011. This was also a time when the CBA changed and our ownership effectively started its change. Three change points, all happening at the same time. That is traumatic for any organization. There were clearly mistakes made, but very few organizations were immune to the CBA changes.
I don’t think it is being unrealistic to give the front office its due for trying to rebuild the Lakers ‘on the fly’. We were simply sabotaged by David Stern, and the fallout from that impacted the Steve Nash and Dwight Howard situations. Those are simply the biggest factors in our recent past – affecting Pau and Larmar as well. As the new CBA took hold, it became clear the Lakers simply had to get under the luxury tax line, and probably the salary cap line as well, for at least one year. This meant we would have to be somewhat conservative in our actions, because the tax levels are not only financially punitive – which the Lakers probably could deal with – but also restricted how the club could sign and trade for players.
All this is to say we can’t freely make the claim the front office simply doesn’t know how to run a franchise, without understanding the rules under which they operate. We may disagree with some of their choices, but to assume they are simply ‘stupid’ is foolish.
We have had an enormous number of injuries over the last two years – more then even the use of many veteran players would project. If this continues, next year could be worse than last year. With that in mind, I do feel we have a better club this year than last – both from a personnel and a coaching standpoint. The ship is beginning to turn. Now we also need a little luck – like Cleveland has had over the last 4 years. Perhaps this last draft was the start of that luck.
Fern says
Talk about scrapping the bottom of the barrel, Thabeet and Stiesma are scrubs, we have a stiff in house already. Ibrather go with Sacre, those 2 guys can be had in 10 day contracts is the need arise. I rather inquire about Okafor health and try him for the vet minimun.
Fern says
Bottom line is, it really dont matter if the Lakers sign Thabeet or Stesma whatever his name is, both are stiffs that barely deserve to be called NBA players, either one would ride the pine hard and have a couple of scrap minutes on garbage time. Dont see the need to brainstorm about those roster filling bodies.
Ed says
Did the Lakers pay $1.8 mil for the pick before knowing if Clarkson was available,or when they knew he was still on the board? If it was the latter,they must have seen somethng that evaded the other teams. I see him as a PG,don`t think he has the size or strength to play on the wing. He really needs to work on his PG skills,like his floater and athleticism.
JohnnyP says
Craig W. / Laker Fam,
“As the new CBA took hold, it became clear the Lakers simply had to get under the luxury tax line, and probably the salary cap line as well, for at least one year.”
Why? The Buss family is loaded and making tons off the Lakers. Is the reason that the costs would have been steep or are there non-monetary related sanctions to teams that don’t do so?
Thanks in advance for the answer.
GOoooooooOOOOOO LAKERS!
Everclear says
Oh God, I’d love to be at the first practice where Beasley gets lazy around Kobe.
/popcorn
J C says
Fern,
I don’t remember Stiemsma too well but from what I recall he was actually fairly decent.
I’m not raving about him.
But from what I’ve seen of Sacre, Stiemsma’s gotta be an upgrade. Even if it’s just a few min per game.
Sacre is IMO the worst Laker since Kwame.
Warren Wee Lim says
Greg Stiemsma is a stiff but he can block shots. Unfortunately, thats the only thing he does.
Beasley is a big question mark, I don’t want him beside our younger players.
Thabeet might be interesting. There was a reason he was touted and picked #2 overall years back. Where’s that potential now?
rr says
WWL is mostly correct about Stiemsma, although I wouldn’t use the term “stiff” in the sense that Stiemsma is fairly mobile. But he is better at rim protection than who they have now.
Stiemsma is extremely limited offensively.
—
Bottom line is, it really dont matter if the Lakers sign Thabeet or Stesma whatever his name is
—
This is self-contradictory, if you are in the camp of people, which I assume that you are, saying that the Lakers are trying to be competitive this year, the FO has had a good off-season, the Lakers are going to surprise people, are trying for a low seed, etc. In that context, every personnel decision, no matter how small, matters. If you think that 44-38 might get the 8th seed whereas 42-40 won’t, and you think that that matters, then the Lakers need to sweat the details. A little size and rim protection deep in the rotation might affect a couple of close games.
If you are more of a Robert type of fan or an Aaron type of fan, or if you simply don’t care whether the Lakers finish 8th or 12th, then no, it doesn’t matter.
Craig W. says
The CBA is about more than money, it is about options. The Lakers options are severely restricted if they remain above the Luxury Tax level, regardless the financial penalties. This was written into the CBA precisely because teams like the Lakers – and the Nets – could get around strictly financial penalties, while other teams would be totally strangled by those same financial limits. Notice that it only took a single year for the Nets to realize that ‘all or nothing’ doesn’t work unless you win that one year.
The Lakers may even remain below the Salary Cap for a year to increase their ability to expand their options.
Examine the CBA before simply assuming it is all about the money.
rr says
Why? The Buss family is loaded and making tons off the Lakers. Is the reason that the costs would have been steep or are there non-monetary related sanctions to teams that don’t do so?
—
No, but the repeater tax penalties are very stiff in the new CBA, and as we have been told, the Busses are not rich like Prokhorov, Ballmer, Cuban, and Paul Allen are. The Lakers are a family business, not a billionaire’s toy/hobby. Here is an excerpt from a 2011 article which explains it, using the Lakers as an example:
>>>>>>Teams that are repeat offenders (paying tax at least four out of the past five seasons) have a tax that is higher still — $1 more at each increment ($2.50, $2.75, $3.50, $4.25, etc.).<<<<>>>>Who benefits? I’ll tell you which teams don’t benefit — the perennial taxpayers, like the Lakers and Mavericks. When the league was unable to negotiate a hard cap, they settled for the next best thing — a more punitive luxury tax that will make teams think twice before committing to a higher payroll. For example, the Lakers’ tax bill in 2011 (when the tax was dollar-for-dollar) was about $19.9 million. Under the new system, being that far over the tax line would cost them $44.68 million. If they were a repeat offender (paying tax at least four of the previous five years) they would owe $64.58 million!<<<<<<<
Brooklyn last year paid 90.57M in luxury taxes.
So, no, the Lakers didn't "simply have to" avoid this type of tax penalty. But there were very good reasons for them to want to avoid some of the repeater tax penalties. Once Howard left, the team was no longer in the business of trying to win a championship immediately, and probably would have wound up like Brooklyn had they doubled down again.
Baylor Fan says
It is past time to stop flogging the failed CP3 trade and to focus instead on the team going forward. D’Antoni needed specific types of players to make his system work and the FO was never able to provide them. It remains to be seen if there are certain types of players that will thrive with Scott. We know that his Cleveland team failed to come together defensively and hope that a lack of defensive talent will not doom the Lakers as well.
rr says
It is past time to stop flogging the failed CP3 trade and to focus instead on the team going forward
—
Well, sure, but the Veto of the Paul deal is still the definitive Jim Buss Era/Post-Phil era moment for the Lakers and will be until/unless the Lakers land another Top-15 player. Paul may or may not win an NBA title, but he is a transformative presence.
Johnny P,
One thing to be aware of is the tax apron. This explains it:
>>>>The Apron
In 2011 the NBA introduced another level above the luxury tax line known as the “apron”. This is a line $4 million above the luxury tax line. If a team’s payroll is above this level, they essentially lose access to several salary cap exceptions. If a team is under the apron but uses certain salary cap exceptions, they will be hard-capped at the apron until the following June 30.<<<<<
http://newsok.com/nba-salary-cap-101-the-cap-the-luxury-tax-and-the-apron/article/4747971/?page=2
Fern says
@rr you must be delusional if you believe for a second that having Thabeet or that other stiff Stiesma would make a difference in the Lakers finishing 8th or 12. I could care less if the Lakers sign them because at this point these guys are just roster spots and if they sign either one of them they most probably wont even crack the rotation, the garbage time rotation? Oh they be there, these two avg 6 points and 5 rebounds combined and have been in the league for a while. so either one of them would be what they always been, players at the very end of the bench, is ludicrous to think that adding either one of these guys would be the key for making the playoffs. Whatever the Lakers fortunes this season are it won’t be bc of what Hasheen freaking Thabeet or Stiesma do.Dont care if one or the other get signed, makes no difference.
rr says
@rr you must be delusional if you believe for a second that having Thabeet or that other stiff Stiesma would make a difference in the Lakers finishing 8th or 12.
—
Didn’t say it was–you misread my meaning. I think the Lakers are probably finishing 12th or so either way. You, however, have talked about what a great job the FO has been doing, how Kobe is going to come storming back and shut everybody up. etc, so I am figuring that you are thinking the team will be in the hunt for 8th seed and in that scenario, as I explained, with examples, even small decisions matter. And right now, the only rim protection the Lakers have on the roster is Ed Davis, and he might not play that much. And over the course of 82 games, every little bit helps, particularly when you account for injuries.
But maybe I’m wrong, and you think the Lakers are finishing 12th, too, in spite of how shrewdly the FO has been setting things up.
Justin says
Like Craig said, the CBA is not just about paying the repeater tax. Mid-level exception and mini-mid are a part of it. If the Lakers would have stayed over the most they could offer was a minimum contract. It is near impossible to build a team with only minimum contracts and an aging core (and this was done also to stop teams like the Heat from reloading. There is a reason everyone including Haslem had to opt put and promise to take less. Of course it worked and Lebron left a year or two earlier than he probably wanted to. If he just wanted to go back the the cave he would have done it at the beginning of FA. He saw that the Heat couldn’t rebuild and were stuck in the new CBA. And that would have been the only time they could have gotten a bench player that could have played a minute in the finals).
JohnnyP says
rr,
Thanks so very much! It still seems to me that the question is of values and money. The Buss family will never be poor. But, I wouldn’t ask them to become impoverished for the sake of the Lakers.
Forbes says the Lakers get $200 million a year from English and Spanish language contracts. So, if they absorbed luxury costs like the Nets, $90.57 million a year, that not only is a big hit on their profits, it could actually mean the team is losing money, eh?
Tough. I don’t know the Buss’ net worth. But, I would imagine that losing $50 million a year could eventually hurt them.
A funny aside, researching this comment, I went to the Jim Buss wikipedia page. There are photos of his father there, but none of him! Sad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Buss
Did you know he is 6’2″ and went to Jockey school? Hmmn.
THANKS AGAIN RR, your answer clarifies a lot for me.
GOOOOooooOOOOOO LAKERS !!!
Fern says
@ rr the FO did a good job all the signings that really matte,r the ones that will make or break this team are completed. Let me say it again *sight* if healthy this team have a shot to make the playoffs and it’s way better than last year’s catastrophe, nevertheless they have to sign players to fill up the bench. “Small desicions” smh if you want to brainstorm about who the Lakers sign at the end of the bench be my guest, this 2 stiffs are not better than DJ Mbenga, and what he was? A player that fill up the bench,play on garbage time and only played when the 2 players ahead of him on the depth chart were in foul trouble or injured and even then the Lakers put someone else before him most of the time. I could not care less for Mbenga then and i could not care less for whoever the Lakers sign to fill up the bench now. It dont really matter.
Fern says
About Beasley, the Heat let him go and prefered to sign * drum roll* Shawne Williams, if a team prefer Shawne Williams over Michael Beasley, thats as big a red flag as you ever going to see.
Aaron says
Proof that TWoves fans are smarter than the Cavs front office…
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24689441/report-kevin-love-andrew-wiggins-trade-great-for-wolves-ticket-sales
Fern says
Aaron i dont think anyone has ever acussed the Cavs FO of being smart. They are “lucky” thats all and it took Lebron James coming back to make them relevant, they were doing a horrible job rebuilding after he left and besides drafting no brainers like Irving and Wiggins they could not draft their way out of a paperbag. I still find highly suspicious and irregular that they had the top pick 3 times after Lebron left, and still could not field a good team that speak volumes of how smart they are. If it wasn’t for Lebron coming bad they would still be neck deep on mediocrity like 95% of their entire history.
Fern says
If i were the Cavs FO i kept Wiggins, i find Lebron,Irving and Wiggins more intriguin than Lebron, Irving and Love. But Lebron runs that FO now.
Tra says
But Lebron runs that FO now.
—
Exactly .. And he has the owner in his back pocket.
Shaun says
Why not sign andray blatch … watching the philipines / argentina game and hes looking good + he was the best big for brooklyn all last year … I know that people say he is a headcase but he could play … excited.for brazil spain later today
Aaron says
If you don’t like watching Brazil and Spain play in any form (WC, Summer League, NBA Finals or Drew League) you don’t like basketball. All of these are NBA players. Playing in ultra competitive environments. In twelve years the basketball World Cup will be a giant deal.
R says
@ Fern August 31, 2014 at 8:52 pm
“If i were the Cavs FO i kept Wiggins, i find Lebron,Irving and Wiggins more intriguin than Lebron, Irving and Love. But Lebron runs that FO now.”
@Tra September 1, 2014 at 9:41 am
“Exactly .. And he has the owner in his back pocket.”
—————————————————————————————
Oh, I dunno … from Wikipedia:
Daniel “Dan” Gilbert (born January 17, 1962) is the chairman and founder of Rock Ventures [2] and Quicken Loans Inc., the majority owner of the National Basketball Association’s Cleveland Cavaliers, the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters, the Arena Football League’s Cleveland Gladiators and the NBA Development League’s Canton Charge. He is also the operator of the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio [3] and chairman of Rock Gaming, which opened its first Horseshoe Casino in downtown Cleveland in May 2012.
———————————–
Net Worth? 3.9 Billion as of Sept 2013.
PS – He’s also taking a shot at renovating downtown Detroit (in his spare time, I suppose).
BigCitySid says
@ R, I’m pretty sure one of the conditions of LeBron returning to Cleveland was that he’d have some say so pertaining to teammates this time around. Danny G had seven years to surround LeBron w/ players previously. Smart guy to “let” LeBron be involved in current on court personnel decisions.
Fern says
Dan Gilbert is a great businesman, so was Donald Sterling, as a NBA owner not so much he is lucky, he failed to built a championship team around Lebron the 1st time around and failed miserabily to built a team around Irving. His sucess on the business world mean nothing in the NBA. He has to bowdown to Lebron now because it’s been proven that he cant built a team. So yes Lebron run that team.
Shaun says
Watching spain was nice … gonna miss pau a lot … boozer is a big downgrade
Tra says
@ R
Glad to see that Wikipedia is so imformative .. But all jokes aside, what I’m referring to is as it pertains to the Cleveland Cavaliers and strictly the Cleveland Cavaliers. In that regards, I believe it’s pretty much a guarantee that whatever LeBron wants, LeBron James – and possibly, his family and close friends – will get from Dan Gilbert. Time will tell.
R says
Tra, I get ALL my information from Wikipedia.
It’s why I’m so knowledgeable. :0)
Fern says
If the NBA was wrestling LJ would have Dan Gilbert on a Crippler Crossface so tight his eyes would be about to pop out lol.
Darius Soriano says
Chris Y,
Beasley and Williams will make the same money this year. Last year, Beasley’s contract was for the minimum and wasn’t even guaranteed. The Heat passed on Beasley because, reportedly, they were not impressed with his maturity or consistency.
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/25/report-heat-have-laundry-list-of-reasons-for-not-re-signing-michael-beasley/
Vasheed says
I would think Beasley would be a decent addition to the Lakers. A front line of Randle, Beasley, and Hill would have on offense 1 guy (Hill) who plays in the paint, 1 guy who plays from mid range and In (Randle) and 1 guy who plays from mid range to outside (Beasley). Thats pretty good spacing. On defense Beasley can be played at SF or PF leaving it possible to switch assignments with Randle. You would also have decent team size despite being small at PF and Center. Lin and Clarkson are fairly tall PG’s having 3 guys in the Front line who are all 6′-9″ to 6′-10″ gives pretty good overall team size. If the other team has a strong PF out there you can bring in Boozer or Davis and move Beasley over to SF or maybe in the future Randle if he develops his outside shot.
I think adding Beasley to the mix may result in players working better together then as individual players. I like guys like Beasley who can add some versatility to a line up. When the Lakers had Gasol Hill could play like a Center on offense but a PF on defense.
Beasley would also entrench Young as Bryant’s back up. Considering the pace required to run an active defense, this would be welcome in reducing Bryant’s minutes.
Depth chart:
Randle, Boozer, Kelly
Beasley, Henry, Johnson
Hill, Davis, Sacre
Lin, Clarkson, Nash
Bryant, Young
Fern says
Like Darius said, Beasley was in a vet minimun last season after his prior contract ended, right now his NBA career is hangin by the thinniest of threads. Shawne Williams is a marginal NBA talent at best and they decided to go with him rather than Beasley
Fern says
Chris Y what you expected LJ and Wade to say to the press, the truth? Baisley is a big talent with a little brain, and i would not like this fool loose on LA. It’s a shame how he squabdered his talent.
Fern says
I could care less if he smokes a joint a thousand joints or not. He is a moron plain and simple. His problems are well documented in that link Darius provided, and they dont have a damn thing to do with smoking weed. it has to do with being lazy, having no motivation and no drive.
Chris J says
Even if the Lakers were to secretly desire to have an abysmal season in order to hang on to the draft pick that otherwise goes to Phoenix, signing Beasley would still be a huge mistake. You should never invite trouble into the locker room unless there’s absolutely a strong system in place with which one could reasonably expect the problem to be addressed from within.
Adding Artest to a veteran team, with stable guys like Kobe, Pau, Fisher and Phil Jackson was an exception to that rule. Adding Rodman to a bickering locker room with Shaq, Nick Van Exel and Del Harris — shortly after trading a positive presence in Eddie Jones — proved the rule.
With a new coach, not a lot of holdover and the lone veteran leadership coming from two guys who haven’t played in a year+ and another (Boozer) who’s new to the organization — that’s just a recipe for disaster if Beasley is added. He could set back not only the coming season, but undermine the foundation Scott hopes to set in Year One.
Fortunately, I believe if the Lakers were to want Beasley, an offer would have already been made. My hope is the post-workout silence speaks volumes about the team’s (lack of) interest.
Craig W. says
Maybe Beasley can turn his life around, maybe not. The issue, IMO, is that he doesn’t seem to have the smarts to play anything but playground style. Scott will run some type of system, at least on defense. Implementing a new system is no place to bring in a low IQ player, motivated or not, and Beasley’s motivation can certainly be questioned as well.
It is not enough to have energy, you must be able to absorb, and work within, whatever is implemented for the team. If a player has a style of play that is fairly well documented, and this style does not fit what you are trying to do, then it is better to pass on an otherwise well functioning player. This is where stability in coaching is important to a team and its draft picks.
Chearn says
One team turning on a player like Beasley is a question of fit, two and three teams declining his services is a pattern. Miami is desperate for players and talent, yet they are not bringing Beasley back to an organization with Pat Riley at the helm and Wade and Bosh as its anchors…that is very telling. No, to Beasley!
Let Beasley slink off the court with his talent as others have prior to him, can you say Roy Tarpley?
J C says
I think people are overreacting to Beasley’s negatives.
We signed Wes Johnson last year who hadn’t caught much career traction previously.
We signed Davis this year, same story.
Boozer? Fading from glory, trying to remain relevant.
LA is Reclamation Central.
I happen to think Beasley is a talented offensive player.
We are bargain hunters, gentlemen.
Deal with it.
Ed says
The Lakers know all about Beasley,good and bad,plus insider,non-publc info. The fact that they let him come in twice for workouts,shows that they`re interested but undecided.I would sign him,but only guarantee after a set# of games.
Vasheed says
As Ed evidenced the Lakers are interested in Beasley. Short of another team offering a better offer, I’ would expect Beasley at a minimum to be invited to camp this year.
Brian says
Personally, I think the Beasley story is much ado about nothing. He is not the same player as he was three years ago when Mitch tried to acquire him at the deadline. His head and skills are not in the same place as he was when averaging double figures in Min.
Normally you’d like to put someone like Beasley at the back of your bench – a young player with potential upside. However, the Lakers aren’t necessarily a veteran team with strong role models in place outside of Kobe. We have a number of younger/potential upside players already. How many players can we realistically ask Kobe to mentor?
I think this Lakers team should go in another direction than Beasley. At this point he has more potential to disrupt the locker room and embarrass the team than contribute meaningfully.
Chris J says
J C — The difference between Beasley and the three others you cited is, as Brian noted, the likelihood to disrupt the locker room and play on the floor.
Wes may not have lived up to his high draft status, but he’s also never filled up a police blotter. Davis is the same. And Boozer’s biggest public embarrassment was in screwing over Cleveland when the Cavs let him out of his deal early, thinking he’d re-sign. A jerk move, but hardly a crime or akin to multiple trips to rehab.
Gurndogg says
I agree Shaun that they should take a look at Blatche who played for the Nets & Washington
he is not perfect but next to S. Marion or maybe Jordan Crawford is the best player out there he can play C/PF plus he can play as good as anyone on the team up front. IMHO. The only better player out there right now is Monroe of Det. & there is no chance of getting him so I say go after Blatche or even J. Crawford either is the best they can do then maybe Beasley at last option.
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