Official 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers Thread

Originally posted by kray28:
Yeah you're wrong on that. Kobe took what the Lakers offered to pay him.

Where this expectation that he needed to play for peanuts came from....still mystifies me.

The front office has cap space to work with. But there aren't really many marquee Free Agents that want to come and play for Jim Buss.

Ya, he took it. But then he doesn't get to b***h about the fact that the Lakers can't field a competitive team.

No, they don't have cap space to work with. Not in any meaningful way. Kobe + Melo + Sacre + the rookie = $4.3M in cap space. Even if a marquee free agent did want to come here, they can't field a championship team around him & Kobe. It's basic math.

Originally posted by GameOver:
Agreed. Don't know why everyone expected Kobe to ask for less money when the first offer put on the table was the one he took. I understand ownership didn't want to low ball him out of disrespect, but I would assume after 18 years, you have a good enough relationship with him where you can just be blunt and straight-forward. "Kobe, we can offer you $23 mill/year and this is how it'll play out with FAs in the future...or we can offer you $10 mill/year and this is how it will play out. You see who will be on this team with you these last couple of years. How do you want to end your career?"

However, us sitting here singing songs of misery about what's already been done is pointless. He has the money. Nothings going to change that. Now it's time for Mitch to make something happen.

I'm fine with him taking the money. But don't complain about the Lakers being unable to field a title contender around him or talk about how winning is all that matters. I know I keep saying this, but it's basic math.

The one path that the Lakers have to being arguable contenders immediately would be to spend their FA money on whomever (say, Melo or something like Lowry + Deng), and then flip Nash's expiring + the rookie for Rondo, Love, or some other disgruntled star on his way out of town. They could do it for Rondo after they sign their free agents, or Love after December 15th, when the rookie could be traded.

I'm not putting too much into what he's saying publicly. He's probably frustrated over his injuries and watching this s**t show of a team play together. Don't get me wrong, he still shouldn't be saying s**t publicly like this, but it is what it is at this point. This isn't 2007, Kobe. Pau isn't coming on a magic carpet to save you.

I'm against trading our rookie for Love. Rondo...I'd be open to it. I'd really rather us keep the rookie and play it out. Even if he turns into a bust, I'd like a homegrown star.

This will be an interesting offseason to see if Mitch has any magic up his sleeves. If nothing out of the ordinary happens (we either pick up Melo or don't and keep our draft pick or ship it off), then we might just have to let it ride and circle 2016-2017 as our return.

One of his points was that he's expected to perform at at top level for his $, and the FO should be held to the same standard. Unless you think the FO is above reproach in this s**tstorm, I gotta think you'd agree with his sentiment.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
One of his points was that he's expected to perform at at top level for his $, and the FO should be held to the same standard. Unless you think the FO is above reproach in this s**tstorm, I gotta think you'd agree with his sentiment.

Sure, but the FO results are over a much longer period of time. From a personnel standpoint, we're in this situation because the FO swung for the fences with Nash/Howard/etc, and missed. The one criticism that isn't just a case of hindsight being 20/20 was not offering the job to Phil, which if you believe those involved (including Phil) was Dr. Buss' call.

Originally posted by kray28:
Yeah you're wrong on that. Kobe took what the Lakers offered to pay him.

Where this expectation that he needed to play for peanuts came from....still mystifies me.

The front office has cap space to work with. But there aren't really many marquee Free Agents that want to come and play for Jim Buss.

lol he didn't need to play for peanuts. He could have signed $10M contract...still make $30M a year in endorsements and be ok. With Nash's expiring contract and around $35M in cap space in that scenario - Lakers could have added two stars and have the top 5-6 pick in a loaded draft.

Originally posted by LA9erFan:
The one path that the Lakers have to being arguable contenders immediately would be to spend their FA money on whomever (say, Melo or something like Lowry + Deng), and then flip Nash's expiring + the rookie for Rondo, Love, or some other disgruntled star on his way out of town. They could do it for Rondo after they sign their free agents, or Love after December 15th, when the rookie could be traded.

Lakers could be drafting anywhere from 1 to 8+ right? I would trade that for Love. Not for Rondo

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

One of his points was that he's expected to perform at at top level for his $, and the FO should be held to the same standard. Unless you think the FO is above reproach in this s**tstorm, I gotta think you'd agree with his sentiment.

Sure, but the FO results are over a much longer period of time. From a personnel standpoint, we're in this situation because the FO swung for the fences with Nash/Howard/etc, and missed. The one criticism that isn't just a case of hindsight being 20/20 was not offering the job to Phil, which if you believe those involved (including Phil) was Dr. Buss' call.

And hiring/firing Brown, and tender D'Antoni,....

Can NBA players restructure contracts the way that nfl players can? If so, Kobe's contract does not have to be the killer.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
One of his points was that he's expected to perform at at top level for his $, and the FO should be held to the same standard. Unless you think the FO is above reproach in this s**tstorm, I gotta think you'd agree with his sentiment.

Sure, but the FO results are over a much longer period of time. From a personnel standpoint, we're in this situation because the FO swung for the fences with Nash/Howard/etc, and missed. The one criticism that isn't just a case of hindsight being 20/20 was not offering the job to Phil, which if you believe those involved (including Phil) was Dr. Buss' call.

And hiring/firing Brown, and tender D'Antoni,....

Can NBA players restructure contracts the way that nfl players can? If so, Kobe's contract does not have to be the killer.

would like to know the answer to that as well. either way, i don't see us winning another championship during this Kobe era. no matter who we bring in/trade for, kobe still feels like hes the #1 guy. i hope im wrong, but i cant imagine this kobe being able to carry us through a 7 game series anymore.

Originally posted by GameOver:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

This made me lol. Mitch is the ultimate creeper.

Originally posted by eonblue:

Originally posted by GameOver:

Originally posted by LA9erFan:

This made me lol. Mitch is the ultimate creeper.

Thank you. I made it.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
And hiring/firing Brown, and tender D'Antoni,....

Can NBA players restructure contracts the way that nfl players can? If so, Kobe's contract does not have to be the killer.

To me, Brown was the wrong call, but ultimately did no harm. He was also a bad hire, but that '11 team wasn't good enough to win. They had a chance at the reset button last year with Phil leading that '12 squad, and blew it. That and hiring MDA are the different sides of the same mistake, IMO.

Can't restructure. He's locked into that deal for 2 years. It is the killer.