In a pretty wild turn of events, it seems LaMarcus Aldridge may not have ruled the Lakers out after all:
The Lakers will get a second meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge today in Los Angeles, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2015
This, really did come out of nowhere. It seemed the Lakers truly were out of the running, as the Spurs maintained their status as the frontrunner and the Suns making moves from the outside to swoop in and sign the seemingly soon to be former Blazer. But here the Lakers are, making another pitch:
One source briefed on the Lakers second meeting with Aldridge told Yahoo Sports: "They want to see if they can get it right."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2015
What exactly does getting it right mean? After reports the Lakers’ initial pitch was focused too much on off-court opportunities and not enough on how things would work on the floor, this second meeting will be purely basketball:
The second meeting with the Lakers will only involve GM Mitch Kupchak and Coach Byron Scott, & will only be about basketball, per source.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 2, 2015
We can make jokes about this, and I’m guessing the Lakers won’t make too much headway in this meeting. But, in saying that, while the Lakers do not have a lot of proven talent to pair with Aldridge today, they can talk Byron’s offense and how Aldridge fits into it as a centerpiece players. If Byron is able to articulate how Aldridge will get the ball in his sweet spots, have ample opportunities to work in the hub of the offense from the elbows, and be a pick and pop partner with Kobe, Clarkson, and D’Angelo Russell, that is more in line with the type of information he might want to hear.
I mean, look at his shot chart:
If looking at the types of shots Byron’s offense produces and the types of shots Aldridge seems to build his game on, there is actually a pretty big overlap. If the Lakers could combine this type of information (in more detail, of course) with a discussion on how they might also acquire a Center to pair with Aldridge in the starting lineup, that might further aid their cause:
Side note: Ed Davis' deal with the Blazers could signify a S&T. Not w/ LMA, but for Robin Lopez which could grease the wheels for LMA.
— Darius Soriano (@forumbluegold) July 2, 2015
Is that a longshot? Of course. But just putting that out there since I've been cramming your timelines w/ angry tweets.
— Darius Soriano (@forumbluegold) July 2, 2015
I am by no means getting my hopes up here. If I were a betting man, I’d say Aldridge ends up with the Spurs or the Suns. But the Lakers are going to get their chance to make a second first impression and see where that gets them.
rr says
Aldridge also refused to meet with the Knicks.
Oldtimer says
Exactly, Knicks cancelled the meeting when it was clear that Aldridge does not want to play the Center.
Therefore, he would raise the same basketball question: who will be the Center of the Lakers? Who are the marquee Vets coming this season and in post Kobe? How can the lakers compete with the current roster? This is déjà vu follow up and a graceful exit for Mitch and Byron. I have still faith in Mitch but the Lakers franchise really sucks absolutely!
bluehill says
This FA season is probably going to be more exciting than the upcoming season, unfortunately.
Ryan says
This is a complete waste of our time, he’s just trying to squeeze every penny out of the Spurs. We already lost out on just keeping Davis by chasing pie in the sky free agents, and LMA isn’t a 5 or a 3. I don’t get this at all.
tankyou says
Aldridge saw that the Lakers picked up Sacre’s option, bam, now the Lakers have a center so Aldridge can play PF. The power of Sacre continues to shine in unexpected ways 🙂
Baylor Fan says
This also must mean that the Spurs would like LA to play center post Duncan.
Anonymous says
Truly delusional FO trying to save face after this free agency debacle… This looks more like a PR move in order to prove that this FO is not THAT incompetent…. In the end, aldridge will have nice words about the meeting “per league sources” but eventually will decide to join another team… Pathetic..
Gian says
I feel like LA is just playing around with the Lakers. This is like Melo all over again. Not buying it at this point.
Aaron says
The more meetings we can get is perfect practice for when actually great players are available next year and after.
Fern says
Interesting that he agreed, all those presentations about oportunities and acting and that jazz was moronic. I dont know if he will sign but i respect LA more for overlooking that crap and being more interested in his job.
rr says
actually great players are available next year and after.
—
Davis is out. Who’s next on your list? Durant and Westbrook, now, right? Is that the new “plan?”
Anonymous says
Man, the Lakers are messed up. Again, I don’t think LA fits the Lakers. He’s on a completely different timeline than our team.
Are the Lakers doing this so they can change the story on social media: ‘LA picks Spurs but says he was impressed by the Lakers – they’re not dumb after all”.
rr says
T Rogers, last thread:
Even if the Lakers offered Monroe a bit less than the max, your points are still valid. Milwaukee has a nucleus of guys and should have a good team with Monroe next year.
Oldtimer says
Tank you, aside from Sacre maybe Lakers should think outside of the box and recruit the following Centers:
1. Mamalou Ndiaye 7’6″ of UC Irvine anteaters
2. Ian Vougioukas 7’0″ of Team Greece 30 yrs old
3. Ionnis Bourousis 7’1″ of Team Greece 32 yrs old
Get the phone, make an offer and channel it to Aldridge to impress him. smh……
T. Rogers says
Why would Aldridge leave a 50 win playoff team to come to this Lakers team? And for less money? The answer is he wouldn’t. This is a charade. And the Lakers are the ones getting played.
rr says
Why would Aldridge leave a 50 win playoff team to come to this Lakers team?
—
Yeah. I said that before free agency started.
Aaron says
rr,
The plan hasn’t changed. Same guys are available except Davis. Now you go after Blake instead of Davis. But again… The plan is exactly the same. I am 50/50 on if I want Jordan. But my plan was always to tank again next year and then have the young cheap talent and four max slots to attract four all stars. Nothing has changed.
david h says
darius: can’t believe la coming to pick up his marie callendar pie special of the month – LEMON merengue.
Happy 4th everyone. remember to release the cherry bomb before it goes off.
Go Laker fan
Darius Soriano says
Aaron out here talking about “4 max slots” when max slots start at 25% of the cap and then escalate to 30% & 35%. Even if you stagger those slots over a couple of seasons, you would basically need the cap mechanics to work perfectly to have enough contracts coming off the books in those staggered years to even line things up. Further, the players Aaron is talking about won’t even be 25% max guys, they’ll be 30% or 35% max guys, making having that many of them on the roster at one time basically impossible when trying to sign them as free agents. The nature of the CBA makes it so cap holds and the rules that exist when you dip below the cap line limit how much salary you can add.
The only way you can have that many max guys on your roster is by basically having one of them be drafted by the team so you use cap exceptions (Bird Rights) to go over the cap. I could go into this with more detail, but there’s really not a need to. Just wanted to point this out so, if you happened to be taking Aaron’s plan seriously, you could move onto other things.
R says
The old way of doing business in the NBA is obsolete. This is by plan. I’m sure we have all heard the saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the very definition of insanity. We have heard this, we do understand this, but is the message getting through to the Lakers organization?
(hint: apparently not)
Fern says
What plan Aaron? Your plan? So it’s Blake now, 4 max guys? I dont think anyone here can count how many times you been wrong, smh at these deluded know it all armchair GMs. It’s really tiresome.
Keno says
Why are you making more of this. He lives in Newport, he has to eat and lives the food at Mastro’s. Guy wants another free $300 dinner!
George says
Anon: Are the Lakers doing this so they can change the story on social media: ‘LA picks Spurs but says he was impressed by the Lakers – they’re not dumb after all”.
—-
I really think the FO is in crisis mode. So many divergent agenda’s.
– Of course Scott wants Aldridge he may prevent the Lakers from losing 50 games next year and help Scott stay on as coach for an extra year.
– Jeanie wants Aldridge so she can roll out her ‘LA to LA’ marketing campaign.
– Jim want’s Aldridge so he doesn’t have to step down for being an utter failure at his job.
– Mitch’s job is to see big picture. Does having a Aldridge on the team through his age 34 season make sense?
My gut says Aldridge is great year 1, good year 2 and slides year 3 & 4. Haven’t we had enough of paying max dollars for average performance with the last two years of Kobe?
Let’s try something novel and sign a player that can actually improve his productivity over the life of a contract — oh, right that person (Monroe) wasn’t even offered a max deal by our FO.
Keno says
By the way this guy on the summer league team could be a player. Averaged 4 blocks a game. If his only crime was smoking in a state(Washington) were its legal then that fixable. Just have Bill Walton be his handler?
Allan says
“Just wanted to point this out so, if you happened to be taking Aaron’s plan seriously, you could move onto other things.”
Bazinga!
Justin says
@Aaron if we tank there is zero chance we get any max guys next season. In fact if we don’t get LMA or DJ you can forget Durant and Horford next season. If anything this shows people that star players want to win right away.No way someone like Durant turns down his hometown Wiz (and a very good playoff team) to come to a bottom 3 team in the league. And if they don’t get LMA then the their are only two max guys in my opinion left anyways next of season (Durant and Horford). If we tank we are looking at a long rebuild (at least 3 years for Randle and Russell to become stars) and that’s only if we keep our pick next year. We would have to be probably the worst team to have a high enough percentage chance of realistically keeping it. One team always moves into the top 3 (of every single year I can remember) and two is pretty common as well.
Aaron says
Okay sorry. Three max slots. Or four max slots if the greak freak or someone else who doesn’t qualify for the highest max yet are one or two of the players you sign. The point is the plan hasn’t changed for the Lakers.
Justin,
That’s right. That’s why as I’ve said the most important thing is to tank and for our young players to be good so to attract star players. If Durant is still Durant he will hopefully see a bunch of good young players and at least two other max slots for two all stars the following offseason.
Justin says
@ Keno I have heard that is drinking. And if you think that is no big deal, think about how you would feel when he comes to work drunk. I hope he can get through his issues, but I would not count on him. For those who haven’t seen him play, he would have likely went in the top 7 if he didn’t have these issues. Reminds me a lot of Gobert only stronger.
Fern says
Unless something like what Darius mentioned is being cooked, this FA period should, no, it will go down as the most embarrasing summer in Lakers history. Our summer team is our season team. The entire FO should be fired. Regime Change
Shaun says
Lets assume we can get r lopez in a s&t with portland …..maybe d west on a min contract ….that still leaves us with 4 mil to go after an sf …. my guess is that mitch has been working lower tier FAs to show aldridge at the 2nd meeeting how we can become a contender
The other possibility could be signing other FAs into our cap space and dealing randle and ed davis to portland as a larger lopez amd aldridge trade that would shoot our salaries up … and at least portland gets an asset … and maybe make us competitive next year
14.1 says
Looks like the FA pool is drying up and the Lakers are going to be left high and dry without any solid players signed. Arron Afflalo was signed to the Knicks for 2/16mil. Seems like a very reasonable contract in terms of years and money. Another potential solid role player who could play both SF and SG gone. Davis is gone. What centers are left? I don’t want Aldridge. This meeting is a waste of time. He doesn’t want to play center and we have no real center (Sacre does not count) to pitch to him since we failed to sign any trying to chase him. I don’t see that pitch going well.
We are still where we were on draft night. I think our rooks have potential to become all-stars. I think they have the talent and in the right environment they can become the foundation that attracts impact players who want to contend in the future. Now we just need to sign some serviceable pieces. Let’s go FO and get it done.
14.1 says
Also for all those suggesting that we sign the likes of Beasley, JSmith*, JR, Bynum, Hibbert, and other knuckle-headed players, get outta here. That would make this years free agency period worse than last year where we signed Boozer, Lin, Hill to make up for the lack of a fruitful signing period. How many fans complained about how those guys were terrible signings last year? Boozer and company are not even on the same crazy headcase level as Beasley and company. I can only imagine the rage of fans having to watch 82 games of Beasley and Smith chucking and bricking.
*Smith : he’s lumped here only because he’s not a winner. Teams have improve by trading him away. He’s serviceable on the Rockets because of the make-up of that team. The Lakers are no where near the Rockets. He will be a hindrance to the team and development of the rooks. No thanks.
Aaron says
I know it’s hard to move the needle with “let’s be bad for two more seasons and then get enough young talent and cap space to go after 3-4 max players.” That’s what I was saying last year. The Lakers are halfway there. I know it’s hard to sell tickets like that or get hits on your website but that was the Lakers only really option if they want to win championships.
It’s hard. It’s not easy. Winning championships isn’t for everyone. It takes time, patience, luck, and a lot of money. But if you want to win the big prize it’s the price to play the game. The Lakers have shown the last couple years they are all in on championships. They could have signed middling talent last summer. Try to sneak into the 8th seed. That way they keep the dumb fans happy. But that way we don’t have Russell. And that way after this summer we have many more bad contracts on the books aside from Nick Young. And now you don’t have the cap space to even play the free agent game. We could have not tanked last year. We knew after the lottery we might not get a pick. But we went for it. We might not get a free agent… But does that mean you don’t try? They are the Lakers. They go for it. They go for the title, not the 8th seed. And next year tanking will be a lot more fun. Russell, Randle, Upshaw, Clarkson, and even Nance looks like a fun player to watch. Tanking doesn’t have to be like last year. It can be fun. The TWolves fans got to watch Wiggins and Levine while getting the top pick. We can watch the future while ensuring a better one. It’s going to be a fun season. And we could have more to show from it (top 3 pick) then just a first round exit.
Anonymous says
why do we need a top 3 pick Aaron? wont we just use it on the 7th rated guy?
anyonemouse says
Dang it – Nets took Thomas Robinson for the vet minimum. Combine that with Davis’ 3/20M, I’m beginning to wonder if we have bothered to look at anyone this summer at all? Those are cheap, young, hungry guys.
SMH 🙁
LordMo says
Aldridge is really not that good people…so the Lakers should calm down and let him go to SA. He has the numbers but some of that is being the only big time player on his roster .. Lillard not withstanding and he has slid back some. LM numbers just don’t impact the game…he is not really a post wants to shoot face up jumpers really and so won’t command a double team most of the time. Because he shoots jumpers then in crunch time he will not draw fouls or make the defense rotate and jumpers tend not to fall in the 4th. Good player but not what we need…if your not getting Love or Gasol then wait…period!
Shaun says
Only 2 other guys i heard we were interested in today were amare and now jason smith …… id rather we just play upshaw, even if he is terrible than sign jason smith …..if we are just giving our young guys time to develop we should go full swing forget the has beens
LordMo says
Aaron spot on bro! Build your team through the draft and let Kobe fade away. They are trying to get another run in while he is here but highly unlikely that will happen. Let him gun his way to the top of record books and then lets get on with the future. Then you can get some key free agents … this is still the best franchise in sports! Winning solves everything and I would look for free agents from LA .. now we rolling!
rr says
I know it’s hard to move the needle with “let’s be bad for two more seasons and then get enough young talent and cap space to go after 3-4 max players.” That’s what I was saying last year.
__________
And like I keep saying: no champion/runner-up has been built that way. Golden State built their team with a string of exceptional draft picks, one very good trade, one non-max second-tier FA, and a couple of great suit hires (West and Kerr). Cleveland is where they are because:
1. They won the lottery four times.
2. LeBron James wants to play near where he was born.
Miami was built on the friendship of three guys who bonded playing for Team USA, one of whom happened to be LeBron James, and Pat Riley’s gravitas.
San Antonio was built on winning the lottery when Duncan and Robinson were in the draft, hiring a great coach, and on being ahead of the curve with international players and analytics.
So, you are proposing that the Lakers will pull something off that has never been done before, because they are the Lakers, even though the guy who was most important and necessary for this to happen is off the table until at least 2020, and even though tanking enough to pick in the Top 3 is not at all easy.
I think it is fine to say that the Lakers shouldn’t give 40-50M to a guy like Robin Lopez or Tobias Harris if you don’t think those guys are worth it. But I think you need to dial down the “This is so obvious, guys” rhetoric and you need to dial down the idea that you are thinking right along with the FO on this. IOW: I think you dial down both Lakers Exceptionalism and StealthTank. The evidence for these narratives is basically non-existent.
Aaron says
rr,
Got it. So all those teams were built because they were bad enough to get bunch of lottery picks to be able to trade those picks or use those picks to entice free agents to join them. Okay. So where do we disagree?
The proof is in the pudding rr. The Lakers have not signed middling free agents the last couple years to big deals. Those are your options if you don’t want or can’t get the Max guys. You sign average to above average players. I think it’s obvious that’s a big mistake if you’re trying to win championships. Obviously you disagree.
Patrick Lanigan says
Darius, can you (or someone else) explain why a S&T with Davis would be necessary? If it’s to bring back Lopez, what do we or Portland get that we/Portland couldn’t just go out and get independent of a S&T?
Aaron says
rr,
Also… I’ve never said anything about a stealth tank. I said the opposite. I’ve been saying they have been doing a covert tank. A stealth tank is what the Spurs did by holding Robinson and Elliot out with fake injuries. The Warriors did a covert tank by just benching their best players the last part of the swap an so they could keep their pick (which was top 10 protected) and eventually draft Barnes. The Lakers have been doing what is called a covert tank. Putting really bad basketball players on your roster and not trying to sign guys like Isiah Thomas that will hurt your ability to get good draft picks while hurting your ability to have enough cap space to sign multiple star players.
Jim213 says
Word is it’s just to appease the relationship between LA’s agent and the Lakers. Face it, this FO moves at a snails pace, just pick up Robin Lopez for 2 yrs along with Tobias Harris and fill the remaining holes with Lou Williams, Kosta Koufos etc… if anything remains ($$).
Best scenario now (leftovers), while acquiring more valued assets to wheel and deal come trade deadline or next off season. At least you’d be able to shop Tobias Harris around as well as Lopez in a possible trade package to improve the roster before next years FA which is a must for the inept. The Lakers future is tied to the youth, but be nice to have some star players to help mold the youngsters.
Calvin says
Aaron – when you say the proof is in the pudding, with Lakers not signing any middling free agents, I have to say that the end result was inadvertent. Because it certainly was not from lack of trying. Lakers tried to offer max contracts to Melo and Dirk last off season – 2 stars who are physically breaking down. They are just lucky that their targets turned them down. If the FO was really planning to tank, they will be doing what Philly is doing. I mean – what do you call the Nick Young contract? Look at Philly the past 2 seasons. They are almost flaunting their tank moves. Now that’s what Mitch should be doing.
Aaron says
rr,
Covert=overt. Whoops.
Calvin,
From what I’ve heard the Lakers pulled their offer to Melo as soon as LBJ was out. And it wasn’t really a pulled offer. The entire time Melo knew he would only be going to the Lakers if LBJ would join him. That was the plan. The Lakers never offered Melo a contract without LBJ in the picture. And I’ve never heard anything about Dirk.
The Lakers have a big fan base. They need guys like Young and Lin to sell tickets. I was angry at the Young deal because although it was only five million I thought it was stupid. That was the only move I didn’t agree with the FO. They were saying it would be easy to get rid of such a small contract if they wanted to. But just sign Young to a big one or two year deal then. Like the Hill deal. It was stupid. They fell in love with the way LA fell in love with him and saw dollar signs. If he was 24 then of course. But he clearly wasn’t on the time frame the Lakers are on. Just a stupid decision.
And the Lakers have been doing what the Sixers are doing. The Lakers are just getting bad players with big names like Boozer, Lin, and Kobe. But they haven’t publicly admitted to tanking either.
Calvin says
One big dilemma with tanking this coming season: What if Lakers tank, take really big hits in terms of ticket, ad, and merchandise sales, end up with the 3rd worst record with 64 losses. Then in the lottery, some team gets lucky and pushes the Lakers draft position to number 4, giving Philly the pick. Then the tank would have been fruitless.
Calvin says
Marc Stein reported last year July 15 that Dirk turned down max offers from Houston and Lakers.
Archon says
When this obvious PR ploy by Aldridge ends and the Lakers end up with a summer league team to start the regular season the Buss family needs to ask themselves some really tough questions about what happened. A lot of questions are needed but frankly the most important question moving forward is, “Can you run a family business with multiple family members involved and hold people accountable for failure?”.
If the Buss family can honestly answer that question they should start looking for a 5 billion dollar payday and get out of the business.
Robert says
Calvin: With regard to your post from a prior thread: I want whatever gets us to be a contender in the shortest amount of time. So in other words – your post was correct as stated : )
Nick says
Any news on the Tobias Harris situation?
If we can sign him, I really would consider this offseason, all things considered, succesful
Vasheed says
It looks like Aldridge really does want to go to LA but, wants assurances he will be featured correctly in the team scheme. Byron needs to show that he has a plan of attack and Mitch has to show that he knows the talent he has brought in is top notch. I consider signing LA the best possible scenario for the Lakers this offseason.
Aaron says
Calvin,
And people reported the Knicks and Lakers offered Monroe a max deal. and people reported to me the Lakers were getting Melo and LeBron 😉
tankyou says
Knicks fans are whining up a storm online about Affalo and R. Lopez maybe being their “only” signings? Seriously I would be happy if we could have landed those guys! I would rather have them then one LMA anyway–since clearly we wouldn’t be building around a 30yr old guy at this point. I’m frustrated that LA even wants LMA and highlighted him instead of going after more reasonable/younger options.
bluehill says
Jim213 – if that’s true, then the FO is worse off than I thought. Can’t decide if it’s worse to for them meet with LA before or after LA meets with Riley, because the contrast will be stark.
I think at this point many (most?) fans are willing to suffer through a rebuilding process as long as the FO is building core group of players that can be competitive for a number of years like the Warriors. They (the fans and FAs) want to feel like there is a plan other than trying to sign the biggest UFAs each year because Showtime.
kareem says
Even if we’re the worst team in the NBA next season, we only have a 65% chance of landing a top 3 pick. That is depressing for those pulling for an (c)overt tank. Its risky to go after. If we don’t get the pick next season, then even the youth movement strategy may be even further delayed. Is a 65% chance worth it?
bluehill says
From ESPN:
“Los Angeles Lakers team president Jeanie Buss has said before that the team is rebuilding under a deadline. Specifically, she has said, the Lakers need to make a deep run in the playoffs within three years or else her brother, Jim, will step down from his post as the team’s president of basketball operations.”
This isn’t a surprise, but I guess it could explain the “strategy” of these past couple of off-seasons. I hope the objective is a little more nuanced, because Jim’s incentives may not result in the best long-run solution.
Todd says
Hasn’t Jim used up one of those 3 years? Seems like it’s a rolling three years because the deadline quote has come up for a few years but we are no closer to getting rid of Jim.
I agree the concern Jim’s goal of saving his ass may force decisions that are not in the Lakers best interest.
What a mess.
Slappy says
“I would rather have them then one LMA anyway–since clearly we wouldn’t be building around a 30yr old guy at this point.”
Look, I don’t want him either, but your statement is not necessarily true.
CAP is 69.1 mil. Was 67.1 projected but since things went better than planned, 69.1 mil it apparently is, or will soon be. Aldridge is a 30% guy. So 20.7 mil a year. More on that number below.
Somewhere in the middle of next season, trade Nick Young. For a box of rocks if need be.
Then when season ends and Kobe’s contract expires, Lakers renounce all rights to him.
Lakers renounce rights to all of their other FA (or else have them signed, as below).
Leaving us with:
Brown – 1 mil
Clarkson – 1 mil
Nance – 1 mil
Randle – 3.5 mil
Russell – 5 mil
Upshaw 1 mil
Total: 12.5 mil in salaries.
Remainder: empty roster CAP holds.
CAP for 16-17 = projected 89 mil.
Durant and Horford, each 30% guys. 30% of 89 mil = 26.7 mil. 26.7 mil x 2 = 53.4 mil.
53.4 mil + 12.5 mil = 69.5 mil. Aldridge = 20.7 mil + 69.5 mil = 90.2 mil.
So Aldridge takes less than 20 mil. The Time Warner and AEG folks tell him that he can make up the difference and more than he’ll ever earn in Phoenix or San Antonio by way of the extra endorsement dollars. So he takes 19 mil instead of 20.7 mil. Durant and Horford take less as well. They could live with 25 mil a season. More than Kobe ever made. May not mean much for Durant but should mean something to Horford. So Aldridge for 19, and Durant and Horford for 25. Takes care of the empty roster CAP holds. Then sign a 3 and D SG by way of the mid-level exception and round it out with vet minimum contracts, leaving us with:
C: Horford, Upshaw
PF: Aldridge, Randle, Nance
SF: Durant, Randle, Brown
SG: 3 and D type to be named later, Clarkson
PG: Russell, Clarkson
Now add the vet min contracts to round it out, presumably some ring chasers feeling the pull of father time. That’s the answer to Darius’ post about not getting better quickly as well. It can be done. Why it is so important to have your talent on cheap contracts and no one else but them, especially when the CAP is going to skyrocket, i.e., they are a fixed, low cost.
That said, the potential problems would be with Clarkson, Brown and Upshaw, since not being first rounders the rookie scale exception does not apply. But Clarkson, giving the timing, well, after this season, the Lakers will have his Early Bird rights. Brown and Upshaw, again, owing to timing, would need to stay at nearly the same salary, then after two years, Early Bird rights for them as well. Randle, Russell and Nance are covered, as indicated, by the rookie scale exception. Then after their four years of that, Bird rights (only need three for that but they’ll be on four year rookie scale contracts, again, first two year guaranteed deal and then 3rd and 4th year team options). And so I’m clear on this, if they use the Early Bird rights on Clarkson, Brown and Upshaw, has to be a 2 year deal, to avoid the one year Early Bird contract, after which, three years in total, the larger dollar amount Bird rights contract following. So two years, then Early Bird two years, then after those four years, the Bird rights contract extension if desired.
Now, to round it out, there might need be a little more play in all this, since the empty roster CAP holds will go up as well. So perhaps one of Brown or Upshaw winds up using part or perhaps all of the mid level exception. But again, only for one season, since after two seasons of service time Early Bird rights kick in.
And let me correct myself, is properly called an incomplete roster charge. Is 525K or so for this upcoming season ($525,093). Would be 5 of them next off-season, if they go with Upshaw, Randle, Nance, Brown, Russell, Clarkson and Aldridge, i.e, 12 minus 7 = 5. So 2.6 mil or so. Why they’d need Aldridge, Durant and Horford to take a small salary hit (the rest would be because they’d be slightly over CAP without the incomplete roster charges)(so if they each give somewhere around 1.7 mil a year that should do it, or be reasonably close to doing it). And they would not only be competitive, they might even win a title for them and for us.
Also hedges the Russell is a bust scenario, since with Aldridge, Horford and Durant, just play a middling passing PG who can nail the 3 ball, and if Russell does anything whatsoever in the league, nailing the 3 ball it is. Then as I said, just add a 3 and D SG.
And I’d rather they tried for that than for Tobias Harris, he who is apparently getting kicked to the curb in favor of Gordan and that Euro draftee, i.e., I thought I read somewhere that the Magic will not match a max offer for him. Too many here are in a state of panic. Hopefully, Jimbo & Co. are not of like mind.
Almost forgot, but I don’t think Horford is worth 25 mil standing alone, and so I’d only sign him for that amount after first signing Aldridge and then Durant. Then to borrow from the late Earl Weaver, if Horford is the guy who puts you over the top, then you pay what it takes to nab him.
George says
Ramona Shelburne @ramonashelburne
A call is just a call… but heard the Lakers did call Rajon Rondo today to touch base.
—
Oh, lord no…
Oldtimer says
It is already midnight in the east coast and I don’t read any mention of the Lakers get any even from the rumormongers. This team is cursed as if all FA’s have agreed to LA for unforseable future. Sorry to dampen your hopes and I started to be very optimistic at the beginning. DJ is trending Clips or Mavs; LaM A maybe going back to Blazers for the money or Spurs in chase of a ring; Robin made a silent commitment to the Knicks pending DJ decisions; David Lee is courted by Knicks if they still have the money together with Lin; our last card for center will be Kuopos and most probably Hill resurrecting the team option.
It is hard to be a laker fan when chips are down, no more Chicky baby to comfort or cheer us up, no more logo to lean on and no more Doctor Buss to lead us to the promised land. I am tired also being critical to the callous Buss Family. It is what it is, let the summer league begins.
Slappy says
Let me correct myself, the amount of any available exceptions counts towards the CAP, so to sign Durant and Horford would mean that they would need to renounce all of their exceptions. Then the season after they could use them again, if over CAP.
Aaron says
Yessss Rondo…In the voice of emperor Palpatine… “My plan is almost complete…”
Slappy,
Sorry… The readers here don’t want to go after great players. They want a bunch of role players. They want the Atlanta Hawks.
AusPhil says
Rondo would be just about the worst possible signing to make. Hopefully it was just to wish him well going to Sacramento…
Slappy says
Sorry, but one more correction, to wit, disregard everything I wrote about the rookie scale and other exceptions, save for renouncing the mid level, etc., exceptions. I forgot about the non-Bird, non-Early Bird, yet still an exception, in other words, team’s always have the ability to resign their own free agents. Would still need the CAP space following signing them all, for Durant and Horford, but once those two are signed, then ongoing signings of their own FA can be done, no matter the CAP.
Aaron: Hey, Horford is on the Hawks. Again, not worth 25 mil alone, but if you’ve already got Aldridge and Durant, and need a worthy C, then he will do. By the way, what some also do not understand and what I failed to post earlier is that with the CAP set to skyrocket, well, go after the elite now, since 30% of 69 mil leaves more for spending later than does a 30% of 89 mil signing the year following. I actually don’t understand Aldridge here, since sure, he risks a career altering or ending injury, but that can presumably be insured against, so take out the insurance, sign a one year deal, and then instead of 30% of 69 mil, he could have 35% of 89 mil next off-season (he’s on his last year of 30% before moving up to 35%, and as we all know the CAP is set to skyrocket from 69 to 89 mil as well, i.e. 30 mil more of available CAP room plus an increase of 5% in available max salary, so why sign a long termer now when the risk of loss can be insured against).
Anonymous says
“Rebuilding under a deadline” is not a good idea at all. It can lead to short-term thinking when long-term thinking is needed.
BTW, I trust Jeanie even less than I trust Jim. She sounds delusional in all her interviews.
rr says
Marc Stein
@ESPNSteinLine
ESPN sources say Robin Lopez has chosen Knicks over Lakers and will join NYK as long as DeAndre Jordan, as expected, chooses Clips or Mavs
LordMo says
Huh Durant? Horford? You guys watch any of these guys play? You want Westbrook not Durant give me the homey! Durant is going to go play in DC…period they have a more developed young core at this point. Horford? An undersized guy who is really 6′ 9″ which means he is undersized for his real position. I would take LMA before I take him…so forget that. Great numbers Slappy…Wrong players! lol!
Jim213 – What star player did you mention in your post bro because I did not see a one? It is the other Lopez brother who is the player, Robin is serviceable at best and he might be good for 20 mins a game, maybe with little to no production…bah
Draft Build make the key trade and sign a key free agent or two…thats is how we do it!
Do not panic because none of these people want to play here…Lakerdom is not for everyone as we saw with DH12.
rr says
Ramona Shelburne
@ramonashelburne
To sum up Aldridge race: Spurs, Suns are leaders.Portland trying for a Hail Mary. Mavs trying…Lakers flailing. Knicks in the green room
rr says
Ramona Shelburne ?@ramonashelburne 18m18 minutes ago
Lakers apologized to LMA for not getting into more hoops at first mtg, when it was over an hour before Kupchak/BScott talked
Ramona Shelburne ?@ramonashelburne 20m20 minutes ago
Lakers mtg with LaMarcus today lasted 90 mins. Basketball talk from Kupchak, Byron &Mark Madsen (who handles analytics for coaching staff)
bluehill says
Do the Lakers leak this level of detail? Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall seeing this kind of info from LMA’s mtg with the Spurs or Mavs. The whole thing seems so amateurish.
Renato Afonso says
So, I’m just checking if the plan to sign Durant is as reliable as the plan to sign Lebron was. None of the players mentioned as future FA signings have been linked with the Lakers, hinted at moving to LA, etc.
I just wish people could discuss the issues at hand which is this, so far, terrible offseason. As it is right now, I just want to see a winning culture being implemented and if it takes LMA to do it, then so be it. I believe he’s a terrible signing giving a) his age, b) his salary and c) that he plays PF and will eat away a lot of Randle’s minutes. Like I said before, drafting Russell would make sense if we were sure of getting a center in free agency. Apparently we don’t have said player (and the list is getting rather thin) so we definitely would be better off with Okafor. Now, we’ll probably have to overpay a player who isn’t exactly what we need and doesn’t want to play center.
I won’t bash the FO until the roster is final but they are not looking good and we won’t have our draft pick next season to make up for it.
Mike in Beijing says
Let me try to explain the second meeting for you. The Lakers front office felt very upset and embarassed by the stories and tweets yesterday. They called Lamarcus’ agent, and asked why they were treated this way. Lamarcus’ agent has other clients, and he would like to do business with the Lakers in the future, so he did them a favor and asked Lamarcus to give them a second meeting so they can save face. There is still no way in hell that Lamarcus goes to LA.
This all shows where the priorities of the front office are: covering up for ineptitude rather than actually improving their basketball team. End of story.
Fern says
Ah Renato this has been a disaster of epic proportions really shaken my faith on this Front Office. Im convinced this people wont make a move until Lebron signs with the Cavs, letting Davis walk was criminally negligent on my book. That second LA meeting has only one word writen all over it PANIC. Now suposedly they “touched” down with Rondo, thats DESPERATION, at this point i dont care if they sign LA, what the hell, they are going to need to go crawling back to Boozer and Jordan Hill. This has been the most disastrous summer in Lakers history.
Anonymous says
I think if we have a chance to get LA we should do it because he is a top player at his position. Signing him will give us at the very least a valuable asset. We have seen during this offseason and the last one that it’s not easy to sign top free agents if you don’t already have other top players on your roster. Having LA would definitely help.
And as long as he remains a top player his contract will be very tradable, so we could try to trade him to a win-now team for younger talent if we can’t get on his timeline with FA signings.
Warren Wee Lim says
So far, my plan to get Robin Lopez and Ed Davis have each failed. RoLo signs w/ Knicks provided they won’t land DeAndre Jordan, which is almost sure. Ed Davis got a contract I could live with from Portland.
See ya two.
So far, media keeps edging us of the Aldridge story like it has any traction. I guess you can make the case that if Aldridge was turned off by the 1st presentation, that we are out of it, why would he meet us the 2nd time? Free Steak?
On the flipside, signing LmA will constitute a win for the Lakers in general, esp their PR department. The inability to sign big time free agents has been a stigma that Jeannie and Jim need to get rid of therefore, even if LmA is a poor fit, they will want that to work. Question is, after signing LmA, who plays center? Is ~4.5M enough to get a quality one? Koufos maybe?
Now consider what if, it is indeed true that we are not signing LmA, which I believe we aren’t, what do we do?
Instead of delusions for Durant and Horford, improve the team THIS year so that you may allow them to come over a year later. Monroe spurned LA and NY for Wisconsin because they have a more competent team. For us, adding a top pick and waiting for him to develop requires, what? another 3 seasons? I’ll be a grandfather when all this is over.
Question is how?
Warren Wee Lim says
A list of available centers:
Not signing w/ Lakers, because:
DeAndre Jordan – choosing between DAL and LAC.
Marc Gasol – re-signing w/ Memphis
Kevin Garnett – re-signing w/ Minny, too old.
Robin Lopez – Knicks, pending not signing DJ.
Enes Kanter – restricted OKC, no defense.
Amare Stoudemire – maybe if we had D’Antoni.
Kendrick Perkins – oh Lord, please no.
Guys that are minimum types and too old:
Chuck Hayes
Joel Anthony
Ronny Turiaf
Matt Bonner
Drew Gooden
Ryan Hollins
Ognjen Kuzmic
Guys that are young-ish but not better than Sacre or Black:
Greg Smith
Henry Sims
Greg Stiemsma
Jeff Withey
Justin Hamilton
Jerome Jordan
Shayne Whittington (who?)
Then, my choices:
Bismack Biyombo – the Hornets allowed him to become an unrestricted FA. He protects the rim like its his last meal but he also couldn’t play offense to save his life. He is the epitome of Ben Wallace but the kicker is that he is only 22! He was a lottery pick from seasons’ past (7th overall, 2011 draft) and somehow never was able to show for why he was drafted so high. He is undersized at 6’9 but he can jump like crazy. He also swats shots like he is angry with the ball.
I’d give him a 3-yr 12M deal right now just to block everything he sees.
Jordan Hill – he needs no introduction. He is a hustler and undersized small-ball C. He’s been getting to his own to a point where he has developed a decent 18-footer. Most of all, he is the longest-tenured Laker not named Kobe Bryant.
With all these crazy deals flying around, I would give him a 3-yr 18M deal if he takes it.
Kosta Koufos – he is really slow and for someone his size he doesn’t quite protect the rim. But he has good instincts for a big, he could flourish under a team with no bigs like ours and he could probably earn more next season after a test year.
1-yr 8M deal for him.
Andrea Bargnani – don’t get me wrong, Barney is not going to sound well being the biggest name we sign all summer. He’s 29 and he can’t jump past a nickel. But he can shoot. I know, I know. Nothing much to say here but I would sign him anyway just so he can feed his family.
1-yr 3M deal.
Tyler Hansbrough – He is a Psycho alright and he is also 29. Not going to improve anymore and not going to shock you with performances.
1-yr 3M deal.
tankyou says
As WarrenWee shows, there basically aren’t any quality centers that play defense left. There are some tweener types they could go after perhaps.
Also any swing for the fences plan that involves KD or something is a farce. It’s like buying lotto tickets as your plan to pay the bills. We are stuck hoping someone breaks out, basically Randle/Russel at this point have to show the ability to become something fairly special. But if Tarik Black (rebounder) and Sacre (lousy 15 foot set shooter) are our “bigs” we got some serious problems. The old saying, nothing breads success like success is fairly true. It’s hard to create a winning mindset or a defensive mindset if no matter how hard you try your team gives up 115 a game. Serioulsy they need some defensive guys badly, roleplayers so much the better, since they would still have cap space left to again try to snag someone disgruntled or breaking out from another team that doesn’t want to play 2nd fiddle. That’s our best chance. the 1st fiddle guys aren’t coming here.
Despite the hope that Russel/Clarkson become really good, the reality is the league is replete with guard talent still and the is a real good chance that neither of them ends up being any better than Jerem Lin. But on this crap team they will have the chance to have inflated stats the next couple years as we lock in a bottom 3 record next season. 76ers have far more talent than we have, although again I’m still high on Randle–for me he’s our only realistic hope in the short term.
Craig W. says
Warren, have you gone psycho? I would rather develop Nance and A. Brown than sign Bargnani and/or Hansbrough, even for one year. First, they don’t actually help our team, second, they impede the progress of our draft picks and third, the PR on this would be simply horrific.
Of your choices, I think Jordan Hill would be the one who would work best with the evolving 1st and 2nd year players and we would take the least PR hit – geesh! this blog sometimes sounds like the NBCSports blog these days. Koufos simply doesn’t fit with our developing style and we already have Sacre. Sign Biyombo if, and only if, Upshaw doesn’t work out.
I think we have to shoot for Harris and, if that fails, simply hope A. Brown works out. We can’t be bringing in bodies simply to fill out the roster, because we already have enough players, abet most of them are rookies or 2nd year players.
Aggggh! the usual.
J C says
Didn’t we meet with Greg Monroe?
And he chose the MILWAUKEE BUCKS??
I still remember when the best player on the planet at the time begged out of Milwaukee to come to LA (KAJ).
Maybe the Bucks offered Monroe more $.
So i get it.
But didn’t we fly out to meet the guy?
Why did we even bother?
We can’t even attract the Robin Lopezes of the world anymore. Wow.
Spraying to all fields clearly dilutes our effectiveness as DAJ camp asserts (Lakers met with him only after a “whirlwind” tour of the U.S.)
Deandre may have been the best fit out there for us so if we wanted him we should have made him a top priority and demonstrated that.
LMA is not coming here (again) and I’m ok with that. But this is getting embarrassing.
Mitch may have a great mind for assembling the right pieces via trade, but as far as luring free agents here, Dr. Buss and The Logo are truly and sorely missed. The Lakers have ZERO charisma in the Free Agent meetings. It’s obvious.
At this point, I’d just retain Jordan Hill and grab David Lee (Lakers can probably get him at a reasonable cost) and see what Randle, Clarkson and Russell can do. Maybe Randle and Russell will knock our socks off and then we’ll have something.
And if we’re really lucky, Upshaw will turn out to be the steal of the draft (and he wasn’t even drafted).
In the meantime, Showtime is officially dead.
Warren Wee Lim says
The definition of a center has changed in the last couple of years. We have only started to admit it this year after seeing Draymond Green and the Dubs. We wanted an assurance to know that small-ball works. We wanted damning proof that it can win a championship.
Lest you forget, the Warriors won because of a once-in-a-generation player in Stephen Curry. He doesn’t have exceptional athleticism or speed or size, plus he was an injury risk too, but his accuracy in shooting from literally anywhere on the court is simply out of this world. This part of the equation you must luck into. You simply cannot buy this in the open market.
Open Market aka Free Agency is best done when buying your Beta and Third Wheel guys. Not the superstar. This is why Gasol became a champion, we already have the Alpha Dog in Kobe. He was the perfect fit and he had a very good character that fits Kobe’s character. In short, we landed a miracle.
Using this analogy in current setting, the Lakers need to develop its own alpha dog. Its own superstar, its own identity. Knowing that 23M in cap space, 4 sophomores and 3 rookies with a 37-yo Kobe will not win you a championship in the next 2 years, why would you even try? The best thing you can do is to add pieces, the right ones. You can add a shotblocker, a shooter, a defender… all this while developing your next star or stars. From the 3, only D’Angelo Russell has the potential to be the star. Randle I see as a very good 2nd/3rd fiddle based on his game. Clarkson, I see as a very good versatile starting-quality guard if he adds range. At the end of the day, why try to win a championship when your team can only afford the 8th seed at best? Be practical.
I do not, and never advocate tanking, even if many out there believe its a strategy. No! Tanking breeds a losing culture, and players in it will develop them as habits. They will be content with losing, they will be used to it. As a team-builder, I refuse to tank, even at the expense of practicality. We cannot buy everything we need for a championship in 1 summer. We needed atleast 2. However, with the 2 that went by, we used the wrong approach in building a team. Although you can say, in effect, it led to our next potential superstar in D’Angelo Russell.
So how can the Lakers be successful? Add pieces, the right ones. Collect talent in a manner that it doesn’t hurt your future and potential space. Use and spend money wisely on players that will be here when the “next” team comes along.
I’ve told you my plan w/ regards to our Center position, now lets finish off the entire acquisition of talent by buying other positions that we will use in the coming years.
Shaun says
Sacremento has to be pissed that they gave up a bunch of stuff to sign …. no one … with matthews choosing dallas .. who will be a bottom 5 team in the west if they dont get jordan and ellis who signed with indiana to be playing on a bottom 5 team in the east
Best bigs left are
Jordan hill
Josh smith
Enes kanter … force okc to pay him big
Darrell arthur
Javale mcgee
Derrick williams
Michael beasley
Ekpe udoh
It should be obvious that we should be a running te this year to at least be entertaining …. if we end up stopping to play half court offense all the time ..either bryron should go or the stealth tank is on for season 2
Hence if we are running we need fast athletic bigs
I think upshaw might have a chance at starting … id rather him than black
Aaron says
Slappy,
We disagree on some of the players to sign. Aldridge lost a step last year and is old. And Horford isn’t a Center and can’t protect the rim. The guys to go after are Westbrook, Durant (if healthy), Blake, Greek Freak, and Deandre Jordan this summer. I think I’m leaving someone out. I’ll have to check the list again over the next two years.
rr says
Westbrook: signed through 2017, will be 29 when he hits FA, has knee surgery history, has been linked with Love as possible package deal. Love is now off the market
Griffin: signed through 2018
Durant: available 2016, has the injury issues, will be sought by at least 10 teams, including Dallas, OKC, and Washington, will be 28 when he starts his next contract
Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee has cheap team option for 2016-2017
Jordan: expected to be signed by Dallas or Clippers any day now
Davis: locked up through 2020
And, on the other end, the Lakers still owe picks to Philadelphia and Orlando.
George Best says
Waste of time. If you get a date with a girl and she insultes you after the date, then you dont go out with her again because she wants to make another guy jealous. Are we that pathetic.
A discussion of analytics is pretty much pointless after you discuss who is on the roster.
Go away Aldrige. We will be signing Rondo.
rr says
I agree with a lot of what Renato and tank said, although I back the Russell pick. Jeanie gave a radio interview yesterday, emphasizing Jim’s timeline yet again, and apparently choosing the shortest possible interpretation of it: two more years. Jim has made two significant public statements about his plans:
1. Timeline
2. Declaring his intention/ability to sign “two max free agents”
So, if the Lakers FO is, as Aaron claims, shrewdly keeping the powder dry and the Anthony/Nowitzki/Monroe/Young/Kobe/Boozer/Hill/Byron stuff was all mostly misdirection, and if they like the same guys he does, they will be courting guys who become FAs at different times, will have many suitors,will mostly have strong reasons to stay put and little reason to come here, (and Milwaukee will have some control over Giannis beyond 2017 barring major CBA changes)–and a few will hit the market in or after 2017.
So, ISTM that Jim and Mitch pretty much need D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle to be Manu Ginobili and LeBron Lite for this to all work out.
rr says
Again: other than Shaq, the Lakers have never gotten core pieces on any of the title teams through FA, and Kareem forced his way here specifically wanting to play in New York or LA because who he was/is as a man. And Shaq was joining a team that had won 53 games, was run by Jerry West, and Shaq wanted to be in show biz.
bluehill says
If there’s a positive in all this, and I’m reaching here, it’s that maybe this will cause the FO to understand that there were unique circumstances behind our big FA signings, as rr points out, and today’s cap-limited environment is not the same.
I guess another potential positive is that more of the fanbase seems to be saying give the young guys a chance, focus on complementary players but stop embarrassing us with these pitches designed to appeal to high school students.
Kareem says
I think it’s clear that if Russell and Randle don’t develop into near all-star players in the next few years, we’re going to be a bad team for at least another five years. Even if they both pan out, we might be looking at another five years before we’re competitive. People are kvetching about this summer or last summer. We had/have no assets and a bad team. There is no magic wand. I think that people need to dramatically readjust their expectations. We are now like most bad teams that get meetings with top FAs but don’t have anything to lure them away.
I will be enjoying the young guys and Kobe’s last run. can’t wait for summer leagues and the season
5D2 says
Why these players just keep coming to break our heart if they have no intention to play here? Jimmy and Mitch need to tell these agents, stop using Lakers as your leverage. Jimmy and Co also need to understand that free agency is not just about showing fans that “oh we tried”…. Trying is not enough. If Jimmy is not sure about certain free agent’ intention, then maybe no more meetings, so soon, these agents will learn. They will know, go to the Lakers means real deal, not just here to get a good show and cup of coffee. Go Lakers!
Teamn says
rr,
Your point about Russel and Randle is my view as well — they need to be superstars to lure others here. All the rest does not matter, for themany reasons you and others have mentioned.
I see the FO plans that were possible, but for various reasons all have failed. Too much pressure on themselves with timetables, too little understanding of shifting realities of CBA and TV deal, etc, etc.
Let’s grow the young guys and see if Russel can lure the big name later.
I would also consider Biyombo soon.
Vasheed says
I’m with Warren specifically about Koufos. I think he is good enough to start or backup Upshaw if he pans out. He also fits price range depending on other moves to pursue Harris or should it ever come to pass Aldridge.
Nick says
Is Jordan Hill out of the question? Actually thought he played pretty well last year, all things considered. I have been a big fan of Upshaw since before the draft, and still am, so I wouldn’t mind the both of them splitting time together. My thinking… Let’s find out sooner, rather than later what we have with Upshaw
If we’re embracing the youth movement… Anyone have increasingly strong feelings about offering Tobias Harris (22yrs old) a max deal? With the rising NBA cap space, locking him in at a 4 year max right now might actually be a good value buy. Coming to the Lakers, I can see him becoming a 20&10 guy; seeing that we have a lot of young playmakers, and without a center he will surly be involved more in rebounding.
Also I think two long and athletic/ versatile wings like Julius and Tobias would present a lot of matchup problems for other teams.
George says
I can sum up the postmortem of the Lakers free agent approach in one word: “Incompetence’.
I an only hope that Jeanie brought up Jim’s deadline because she intends to hold him to it. To be honest, after the FOs pathetic (another good description) performance in free agency, the Lakers are at least three years away from a top four seed in the West. Jim and likely Mitch will be gone by then.
The future Is still bright but after this summer it’s just farther away.
Warren Wee Lim says
Craig, not a huge point on my part but I would rather spend 6M on Psycho T and Bargnani rather than be tempted to offer Tobias Harris 15-17 million per year for the next 4 years.
Mid-Wilshire says
Well, this is what it all comes down to IMO. The Lakers must fully embracing a youth movement as never before in their history. This is not a bad thing necessarily. But it does underscore the obvious: the road back will be slow and arduous.
Below is a list of 8 players who could conceivably make the team this coming year, not one of whom has more than one year of experience in the NBA. The players are listed alphabetically. I have given their ages as of January 1, 2016 and have also included their birth dates in parentheses:
Tarik Black PF/C 24 y. o. (11/22/1991)
Anthony Brown SF 23 y. o. (10/10/1992)
Jabari Brown SG 23 y. o. (12/18/1992)
Jordan Clarkson PG/SG 23 y. o. (6/7/1992)
Larry Nance, Jr. PF/SF 23 y. o. (1/1/1993)
Julius Randle PF 21 y. o. (11/29/1994)
D’Angelo Russell PG/SG 19 y. o. (2/23/1996)
Robert Upshaw C 21 y. o. (1/5/1994)
Average age: 22.1 years
Furthermore, if the Lakers were to acquire Tobias Harris (which I believe is still do-able), then Harris would fit in perfectly into this pattern (birth date: 7/15/1992).
The Lakers, of course, have little choice at this point. But this does constitute a possible direction and a way out of this current morass. The next stage is this: develop your talent. It’s that simple.
If Russell, Randle, and Clarkson all develop into excellent players and play beautifully together (which is my dream) and if, say, Upshaw cleans up his act and develops into the rim-protecting demon that he can become, then many problems will have been solved.
The only caveat is that this will take time. The pieces may actually be there. But now the goal is to make sure that we get the most out of the talent that we’ve acquired.
This could take several years. It could be slow and painstaking. Let’s not be shocked if that’s the case.
LordMo says
Tobias Harris? Y? Please relax and please stop because there is no reason to get him whatsoever.
No reason to panic either guys. Why because Ramona S and Brian W are talking crap about how these big time free agents are not buying in to the Lakers vision? So, you go waste a slot on mid-level to low level NBA talent? No, lay up and take the high pick because historically when the Lakers have it has turned out pretty well and check out some of the kids coming out next year. I like the kid going to Cal…likes almost like a kid we took from Merion, PA. Relax LakerLand all is well.