Because the Western Conference wasn't stacked already
There must be Celtics fans tossing themselves off buildings tonight. In any event, the already mammoth Western Conference got a luxurious infusion of star power in tonight's draft lottery, when the Blazers snagged the first pick, followed by Seattle at number two. That means in one form or another, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are about to make the Pacific Northwest about much more than rain, lush green space, and concern for global warming. About the only thing that kept the E.C. from risking permanent fiefdom (at least as measured by number of quality teams) was Atlanta sneaking up a spot to number three, robbing Phoenix of the opportunity to steal their pick and beef up an already quality squad.
At this point, it's fair to say the Western Conference could get very Lord of the Flies in '07-'08. Not that Portland and Seattle are suddenly going to morph into title contenders, but the Blazers were a pretty good bad team last year, have a ton of potential, and now have the flexibility to move Zach Randolph and get even better. Or keep him and figure out how to work a massive and athletic frontcourt with Oden, Randolph, LaMarcus Aldridge. Or swap picks with the Sonics and take Durant, who fits a little better, in theory. Seattle now has insurance if Rashard Lewis leaves and options if he stays.
Go down the line. Dallas will be good next year, as will Phoenix, San Antonio, Utah, and Houston (barring major injuries). Considering how they finished, a full season with A.I. makes Denver dangerous, which also describes a talented, improving Golden State team when Baron Davis is healthy. NO/OKC could be better, we've already talked about Seattle and Portland, and the Clippers are at worst mediocre, and could be better depending on how the offseason goes. Memphis has the cap room to get better. Not necessarily good, but they'll have a high pick and the potential to not be crappy. Even Sacramento, as big a mess as they are, still had a crack at a playoff spot last year.
If I'm K.G., I'm checking for real estate outside of Minnesota ASAP. You can make an argument that they'll be the worst team in the conference heading into next year. Not sure I buy it, but that I could reasonably defend that position kind of proves my point. There likely won't be a lot of gimmies next season on this side of the Mississippi.
Work those phones, Mitch.
BK
AK/BK:
The Times has said precious little about the following and I was wondering if you had any morsels of info to feed our hungry minds--
1) How's Vlad's hand? Does he know if he'll have surgery? How's the shoulder?
2) How's Mihm's rehab coming along? How does he feel? How's the mobility? What's he working on?
3) Post-Odom surgery--Any news on the shoulder? The knee? Are we waiting on the knee until the shoulder's rehabbed?
4) And while we're at it, how's Walton? Will the ankle require surgery?
5) With all Kobe's dings, will he be getting any physical therapy or surgery in the off-season?
Or any other inside dirt you can tell us.
Posted by: Marty | May 23, 2007 at 11:57 AM
Marty, "the Times has said precious little "
You read my mind Marty i was thinking the same thing.
Posted by: Mamba24 | May 23, 2007 at 12:06 PM
Add me to the Mo Peterson Bandwagon...what kind of money will he be needing ?.... is it realisitic?
EEEEEEEEEEX?????
Posted by: Kiwi | May 23, 2007 at 12:12 PM
I'm going to cry uncontrollably when we trade Lamar Odom for Zach Randolph. If we thought Smush or anybody else was bad for chemistry... Meanwhile, with LO, Roy, Aldridge, Oden, et al, the Blazers would be a real force.
This is going to be awful.
Posted by: Mannie Jenkins | May 23, 2007 at 12:16 PM
Mannie Jenkins, "I'm going to cry uncontrollably when we trade Lamar Odom",
Dry your eyes Mannie cause LO is not going anywhere. The only way LO
would possibly be traded is in some blockbuster trade and I don't consider
Ranolph a blockbuster.
Posted by: Mamba24 | May 23, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Laker Seth,
"The only negative on Bynum IMHO is the mental aspect:"
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?
Posted by: exhelodrvr | May 23, 2007 at 12:30 PM
I'm still not convinced about trading Bynum and Odom. I just don't think Kwame has the mental toughness - forget the scoring. He's just not intense. He doesn't care if he wins or not. Bottom line, we're not going anywhere with him in the lineup, no matter who we have at the 4.
I say trade Manolitos de Piedros for Artest, sign a vet at the 1 for the MLE and sit tight (possibly bring in another rebounder/defender at the 4 if we can, but we've been trying to do that since forever). Roll next year, do some damage, and make this a place that KG wants to be. Let him come over for the MLE next summer and start the new dynasty.
Posted by: SBPimp | May 23, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Edwin,
"In this blog, we thought highly of our players as good trade values."
Not all of us.
Oops, sorry, being realistic again.
I meant to say, "Let's trade Vlade and Sasha for Ron Artest. And Kwame, Cook, and Evans for Gasol."
Posted by: exhelodrvr | May 23, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Mo Pete is washed Up, And the guy never had much to offer to begin with. Please do not sighn him.
Posted by: James da kingpin | May 23, 2007 at 12:37 PM
IT's amazing to me how any of us can entertain the thought of acquiring Artest and Gasol and keeping Odom
or JO, Artest, and keep Odom.
It isn't going to happen.
We have to give up something to get something and it remains to be
seen if anybody is way excited about Lamar Odom who is not consistent, Andrew Bynum who is not even Chandler and Curry at this point by a long stretch, or Kwame Brown who has to be 100% healthy to be effective.
After the Wizards hoodwinked us, who thinks we're going to trick anyone. Not gonna happen.
We need to be on many doorsteps come free agent signing day and sell our program and the available minutes. Who's coming for under the mid-level is the question and how many will? Perhaps 2 guys will split it???
This current team crumbles in front of any adversity whether it be tight playoff series (see Phoenix 2006 and 2007) or injuries (see this season).
We need new minds as much as new physical talent around Lakerland.
Posted by: Duane | May 23, 2007 at 12:46 PM
"I'm going to cry uncontrollably when we trade Lamar Odom for Zach Randolph. If we thought Smush or anybody else was bad for chemistry... Meanwhile, with LO, Roy, Aldridge, Oden, et al, the Blazers would be a real force.
This is going to be awful. "
Wow...I can almost see that happening. Portland right now would be a perfect situation for Lamar...I'm not completely sure that they'd want him though. Even worse, the Lakers might be willing to throw in some earlier-expiring contracts for one of Portlands massive wasteland contracts.
No matter what Portland does, they're going to be a force. And they have lots of assets in the frontcourt to do something.
Posted by: LA Guy | May 23, 2007 at 12:46 PM
I would like to see the following happen for the Lakers: Trade Bynum for Jason Kidd. Resign Luke Walton. Get Jerry West to come back in some capacity. I also think the Lakers will trade their first round pick. Kupchak commented a while back that he didn't want to get any younger.
Posted by: MOLaker | May 23, 2007 at 12:50 PM
SBPimp, "Roll next year, do some damage, and make this a place that KG"
I'm on your bandwagon SB
Posted by: Mamba24 | May 23, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Lakers: Monitoring the Fallout…
Article by Eric Pincus for HoopsWorld
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22052.shtml
Nothing new but a nice recap.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | May 23, 2007 at 12:54 PM
there's another thing though... Kwame knows next year is a "contract" year...
As far as trading with Memphis for Gasol or Indiana for O'Neal, put yourselves in their position. Like trading, Kwame/Cook/Mo Evans for Gasol??? If you were a Memphis fan and they pulled a trade like that??? Seems like other teams could offer a little more... Bynum would have to be the bait and then you have to match up salaries with either filler... like Vlade and Cook with draft pick(s), etc. or offer real value which is Odom. I looked up the salaries on RealGM, Bynum and Odom for Gasol works (with no draft pick) and quite frankly, shouldn't Gasol be playing PF anyway? not Center? So if we get rid of Kwame, we might end up with some craphound like Magloire as a free agent signing... I think I'd rather have Kwame...
Posted by: TaosHum | May 23, 2007 at 12:55 PM
Ex-
Ok, that Lincoln referance was perfect.
My coworkers glared at me for snorting...
Posted by: Jeff | May 23, 2007 at 12:56 PM
lol Ex
Posted by: Xodus | May 23, 2007 at 01:06 PM
Jeff,
"My coworkers glared at me for snorting..."
Hopefully you weren't drinking coffee at the time.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | May 23, 2007 at 01:06 PM
Laker Seth,
I don't think its that people dislike Bynum....I think most do like him. I think its more a matter of trying to win now while Kobe is in his prime. Its a tough decision no doubt, but its so hard to win a championship and trying to contend with Kobe gives us a good chance. The other issue is that its not much of a gamble if we were to get someone like Gasol...who is fairly young anyways. So yeah, there is a chance Bynum becomes a great C.....BUT there's also a chance he doesn't. There is a chance that Bynum never is better than Gasol or Jermaine....so I think the reasoning is, win now and trade Bynum while his value is very high.
Oh, and Kobe was pretty dang good his first 3 years. You could tell from his rookie year the guy was a special talent. Year 2 Kobe was good enough to be a starter but Del Harris purposely limited Kobe's mins so as not to disgruntle the veterans. And in year 3 Kobe averaged 20 pts. Not too shabby I think.
Michael H,
Ok, throw in someone like Mikki...and I'm digging that lineup. I really like Watson and he's the guy I wanted the Lakers to sign when he was a free agent. And I agree Lewis is more of a 3 and I think at this point Lamar is more of a 4. But that lineup would would cause a lot of mismatch problems.
Lakertom,
You bring up an interesting point about keeping Bynum to counter Oden. Which logically makes sense. My only concern is, IF Bynum can counter Oden. Bynum has the potential....but as of now its just potential. Of course we can say Bynum is only 19.....except Oden is also 19, yet he is far far ahead of Bynum in terms of development. Right now Oden will completely dominate Bynum and we can only hope Bynum catches up...which will be tough. In fact, will Bynum even ever be better than Gasol or Jermaine who are all stars? Maybe...but maybe not.
I think the bloggers have to understand that the ONLY reason we can trade Bynum for an all star C like Gasol or Jermaine is cuz they are disgruntled with their own teams, forcing their teams hand to trade them. If they were content, there's no way Memphis or Indy even considers trading these guys for Bynum/Kwame.
Korey,
My bad! I totally thought Javaris Crittenton was someone else. Ok, he's the GT pg, ok, that's actually a pretty good pick then.
Posted by: wiZo | May 23, 2007 at 01:08 PM
Laker Seth,
"The only negative on Bynum IMHO is the mental aspect:"
When you're doing something that requires the intense althletic coordination of all of your limbs, your brain ought to be in on it.
Tex said it last summer, and after another season, Andrew has not shown the killer instinct which I don't think can be taught.
Still, if you're whistled everytime you get aggressive, one would tend to back off. Refs reward energetic moving feet and that would not descirbe Anbdrew's style of play.
Posted by: Vman | May 23, 2007 at 01:11 PM
Ex-
Coffee, no.
Diet coke, yes.
Result? Still messy.
Posted by: Jeff | May 23, 2007 at 01:13 PM
Hibbart is staying in school = Bynum's trade value goes up.
Gasol wants out of Memphis we send Kwame's expiring contract, Bynum, and Evans or Cook (they choose). If they want this it's because they want a big and to continue their rebuilding process with $9 million to spend next year.
We get Artest because Sac wants to get rid of him and we send them a resigned Luke Walton and Evans or Cook (or Radmanovic and Evans or Cook) plus our first round pick this year. They also are rebuilding and looking to add first round picks.
There are other options but this lets us keep Odom and add Gasol or Artest or both.
Posted by: B$ | May 23, 2007 at 01:28 PM
I'd rather have Magloire at this point. He'd be about 1/2 as expensive as Kwame, and has been a consistent player for several years now. He got a little buried in Portland, but when he was with the NOOCH and Milwaukee he was extremely consistent.
I agree, we're probably not landing Gasol or JO without including Bynum. I just don't understand why you'd send out Odom instead of Kwame. I mean, we both agree that Odom is better to keep, right?
Of course Kwame isn't as sexy from a player impact perspective. His value in a trade is that he makes NINE MILLIONS DOLLARS that come off the books after next year. He will enable a team to dump salary, which is just as valuable (if not more so) than player value in a trade - look at how Philly paid CWebb to go away.
Ideally, I'd love to trade Vlad and Cook for Artest, then dangle Kwame's contract for another impact player - but I don't think that's going to happen. We will probably end up trading Kwame for Artest and keeping Vlad (who has just about no trade value atm having just completed a horrendous first year of a 5 years deal). I just hope that we don't give up Odom under any circumstances, and we only give up Bynum for a proven All-Star in return, who will probably have such a huge contract that it wouldn't be worth it to pull the trigger, anyway. I mean, imagine if we trade Bynum for Kidd.. that's around 15 million in salary we'd have to cough up to make it work, and if we trade Kwame for Artest there's no way we can get there without moving either Kobe or Lamar.
No, the better move would be to hold onto Bynum, trade Kwame, make a quality MLE signing, and fluff the nest for KG next summer.
As far as next year being a contract year for Kwame, do you honestly think that he's going to flip a switch and make someone go, "hey, this dude makes nine million dollars - and he's worth every penny!!"??? No - Kwame doesn't care if he's playing basketball. I wouldn't be surprised to see him pull a Bison Dele and retire after next year and spend a few years just walking the earth like Kane in Kung Fu, helping random people in small towns with their problems... hmm.. sounds like a great idea for a reality show...
Posted by: SBPimp | May 23, 2007 at 01:29 PM
"I'd rather have Kwame than Magloire."
Your kidding right.
The only thing that makes Brown worth keeping is the fact that his contract is up after this year. But I can give you "The rocks stamp of guaran-damn-tee" that his soft, no heart, waste of atheltic talent will not be in a Laker uni next year. Hate to be the bearer of bad news. Both KB and Phil don't think much of him and he hasn't come close to the 15 -10 avg. we asked of him since he's been here.( I think they are a little shakey on Bynum as well but we need a big and he still has great upside). We never asked Kwame to carry the team like he was asked to do in Washington. Hell we didn't even ask him to be 2nd banana, we got odom for that, and he still couldn't produce . And you want to pay 9 mill for that?
Posted by: richtown | May 23, 2007 at 01:33 PM
SB
We are on the same page my man.
Posted by: richtown | May 23, 2007 at 01:42 PM
Mihm is leaps and bounds better than Kwame, especially when you factor in their salaries. Mihm has a decent post game and can hit the short baseline hook pretty consistently, whereas Kwame can't consistently hit layups. And a big reason why Mihm got into foul trouble more often than Kwame was because of our porous perimeter defense and the fact that Kwame often wasn't in the right place to foul anyone.
Given our salary cap and draft position, Kwame's only real value to the Lakers is his expiring contract. It's pretty clear that right now he's the third best center on the team, yet he makes the most money. He needs to be traded while his value is highest, and because his 8 million dollar contract is expiring at the end of next season, its as high as it will ever be.
There are three situations that Kwame will be an asset to us:
1. He's used to get a All Star caliber player in a package with someone on our team that another team wants because his contract will make salaries work out
2. A team tries to dump salary to put themselves in a position to get under the salary cap for next year, to get under the luxury tax, or because of ownership issues (Memphis or Atlanta)
3. If a player publicly demands a trade that forces the team to get 50 cents on the dollar (like A.I. last year).
We're more likely to be able to add players through the second situation because if a player like a K.G., Randolph, Lewis or even Kidd becomes available, other teams have much more to offer in terms of talent than we do (Phoenix and Chicago being prime examples). Our advantage is in cap relief, and there will always be teams looking to dump salary for the next season, although it might not be until mid-season.
Before all the injuries ruined our season, we were playing pretty well and were the proverbial "team nobody wants to face in the first round". I don't believe that we're nearly as far off from contending that others may believe. I think that if we make some smart moves like picking up a defensive oriented guard and center (who I believe are the most important positions when it comes to defense), we can go a long way towards being contenders. The moves don't need to be flashy, just smart. Without Smush and Kwame we're losing 20 points per game, but if we're able to tighten our defense we should get back at least 5-7 of those points back. I think if we can replace those two with about 13-16 points per game, we'll be in a much better situation.
If we hold onto Kwame and he doesn't work out, we'll lose his expiring contract (like the Bulls did with P.J. Brown) and we won't even get any cap relief since we'll still be over the cap with Kwame's contract off the books.
Only Trade Odom for Garnett (which won't happen)
Only Trade Bynum for an all-star
Trade Kwame for a Defensive PG like an Earl Watson
my two cents
Posted by: psp956 | May 23, 2007 at 01:44 PM
"Richtown
"
The only thing that makes Brown worth keeping is the fact that his contract is up after this year. But I can give you "The rocks stamp of guaran-damn-tee" that his soft, no heart, waste of atheltic talent will not be in a Laker uni next year. Hate to be the bearer of bad news. Both KB and Phil don't think much of him and he hasn't come close to the 15 -10 avg. we asked of him since he's been here.( I think they are a little shakey on Bynum as well but we need a big and he still has great upside). We never asked Kwame to carry the team like he was asked to do in Washington. Hell we didn't even ask him to be 2nd banana, we got odom for that, and he still couldn't produce . And you want to pay 9 mill for that?"
You said it, and I concur
Kwame Brown will probably try a little next year, just to make sure that he will get a paycheck for the fallowing year, but as bad as Maglore has been the last couple of years his no where close to how bad Kwame is.....
Posted by: Gino | May 23, 2007 at 01:48 PM
exhelodrvr: I don't agree. Kwame is a much better defender than Mihm. Mihm going down 2 years ago was the best thing that happened to the Lakers (so then Kwame got to play and we ALMOST beat the Suns). Injuries this year obviously made everything go to hell, but I'd much rather have Kwame than Mihm. Dollar for dollar might be a different arguement, but when it comes to the Lakers, if the player won't make them a winner I don't care the cost saved. imho;-)
Posted by: Lands | May 23, 2007 at 01:51 PM
when JO came into the league he was a monster the only reason why he didn't get any burn because he was playing behind
rasheed in his prime
brain grant in his prime
calvin cato in his prime
an i forgot they had a center,im not even going 2 try to remember his name.
It wasn't any room for him,a plus he was an allstar after his first season with the pacers,im sorry baby drew isn't no where near
JO at his age
SHAQ
ODEN
D HOWARD
THE MAN CHILD THEY HAVE IN PHEONIX THESE GUY'S CAME IN REDAY TO TAKE OVER .
BABY DREW IS BARLY ABOVE GROUND ZERO.
Posted by: COMPTON'S FINEST | May 23, 2007 at 01:53 PM
DAMN, FOX SPORTS AND CBS mock drafts have the clips taking Crittendon at 14!!!
And what's worse, CBS Hater Meija has us taking McRoberts at 19!!!!
JIM BUSS if you do that, i will just say very very bad omens for you sir!!!
Posted by: Korey | May 23, 2007 at 01:53 PM
as far as the Memphis trade, I guess I wasn't clear in my post. Surely... Memphis can get better offers than one involving Kwame? Just because we want to pick up our trash and throw it at them doesn't mean they have to take it. If I was them, I wouldn't take that deal, I think Odom would be necessary to get Gasol, if Memphis is willing to take less... give it to them! Maybe Jerry West "gifts" us before he retires? LOL! Perhaps we (the Lakers) get back their first round pick? I dunno, it's a tough call. I'm not exactly sure what is "fair" on both sides at this point, but I know Kwame, Cook or Vlad Rad or Sasha, etc. is not something that will fill the seats in Memphis.
Would love for Kwame to change his name to something like Bison Dele though... maybe Chief CakeThrower...
I saw Magloire play this year... Hoofa... maybe he was good in the past but it sure looks like he has nothing left in the tank... but we could pay him a couple of million to ride the pine like Aaron McKie... the only words Phil would have for him all year would be, "Magloire! Grab some bench!!!" and... so he would sit...
Posted by: TaosHum | May 23, 2007 at 01:57 PM
Aloha Taoshum
And anyone else out there that believes its ok to give up Bynum and Lamar for Gasol or Oneil. Are you guys crazy? Think about this, 1st not all laker fans believe it but a lot of GMs and scouts still believe that Bynum is going to be a very good to great NBA center. We have leverage here. To add Lamar to a trade would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Just look at the numbers:
Gasol 20.8 ppg 9.9 rb 3.4 assists
Oniel 19.4 ppg 9.6 rb 2.4 assists (only shoots 43%)
Lamar 15.9ppg 9.8 rb 4.8 assists
Now those numbers represent what they do as the number 1 option on their team. How would their numbers look as the number 2 option? Also Lamar presents match up problems that is only surpassed by Lebron. What kind of lift would Gasol or Oneil really bring, wouldnt we be about where we are at now? Lamar runs our offense as well, would we actually be worse off? And we give up Andrew too? Is it really worth 3 and 1/2 to 5 points a game? I believe if we are going to trade Andrew we can do it on our terms. I would love Gasol or to a lesser exent Oneil on our team but only if we keep Lamar.
MH
Posted by: michael h | May 23, 2007 at 02:02 PM
Kwame and Cook as well Mo for Artest and one of Kings other bad contracts Shareef or Kenny Thomas... Buss do it now......
Sign Charlie Bell immediately defensive PG or SG with excellent outside shot....
the least you can do is to pull off these trades... I love to get a 5, but it will require to much and no one will trade us their allstar 5 without a big return.... JO has another 3 more years of about 68M due on his contract, he will be very tough.....
Sign Maglore as well as Grant Hill for veterans minimum...
I would also try to sign and trade Luke Walton, Sasha Vuijic Jordan Farmar and #19th Pick to Seatle for Earl Watson and Nick Collison
Charlie Bell/ Earl Watson
Kobe
Artest
Odom
Maglore
Garnt Hill
Turiaf
Bynum
Mimm
Collison
Vrad
Watson/Bell
Now at least if not a big name player complimantry to start players like Artest, Grant Hill, Maglore, Watson, Collison...All I'm trying to say is we need to change the look of this team, we don't have a warrior mentality team...
Artest, Watson, Odom, Bryant as well as Maglore and Coolison with Bell will change the face of this team dramatically without adding really big impact players.... Now we will still be missing an inside threat in which I have highly sought for.. But We can see what Bynum can do next season and how much his developed, if we don't see major upside soon maybe we can move him with a lot of the pieces we have in the Feb trade deadline....
What do you guys think?
Posted by: Gino | May 23, 2007 at 02:06 PM
Compton,
Arvydis Sabonis is the Portland center you're trying remember. One of the best passing bigs in quite some time.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | May 23, 2007 at 02:07 PM
michael, actually I don't want to trade Bynum. I would much rather he stays and is allowed to develop. Bynum talked about his favorite players once and one of them was Tim Duncan. Duncan at 19 would probably be considered to be talented with no drive because he's not out there yelling and screaming. I actually think Bynum is going to be a stud but he's going to have to develop the stamina to do that which will take another few years.
But now everybody is talking about "win now" so you can't have it both ways. If everybody wants to go for it - go for the title as of next year, you have to give up value now. Gasol is an allstar - Odom is not. That's it, point blank. I like Lamar, but everybody knows he tends to disappear for a few games and it doesn't appear that is ever going to change. I'm not really sure his trade value is as high as we think it is, he's getting paid A LOT of money and he is really a 3rd scoring option. A team that is loaded could use him as a final piece but otherwise he's just a high quality guy to have around who will never win a championship. Just another good citizen who fills a slot and does his thing, which is valuable but... what good does that do us when Kobe is being double teamed and NOBODY wants to step up and take a shot?
Posted by: TaosHum | May 23, 2007 at 02:19 PM
THIS MAY SOUND CRAZY AS FLUCCC
BUT I LOVE TYSON CHANDLER,I PLAYED AGAINST HIM IN THE SUMMER LEAGUE IN VEGAS.
TRADE BABY DREW-KWAME ,THROW IN LUKE BECAUSE HE JUST PLAIN SUCK AN PICK UP TYSON.
TYSON
RONNY T
LO
HAVE LO AS MY #3 PUT HIM ON THE BLOCK LIKE I SAID 3 YEARS AGO AN LET HIM OPERATE,NOT ONLY DID WE JUST IMPROVE ARE 3 SPOT,AS WELL AS THE CENTER THAT CAN GRAB U 15-20 BOARDS AN BLOCK 2-3 SHOTS A GAME.
THINK ABOUT IT, LO ON THE BLOCK WITH TYSON AN RONNY T CLEANING UP THE BOARDS.
SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IM STUPID
IM JUS THINKING OUTLOUD
Posted by: COMPTON'S FINEST | May 23, 2007 at 02:19 PM
AK,
You mean Arthritis Sabonis. Guy could barely move.
Posted by: B$ | May 23, 2007 at 02:21 PM
I doubt at 29 Peterson is washed up...
hes jsut coming off a bad season with limited opportunity which is good for whoever signing him...hes tough and a veteran whcih we need...if we can afford him we should sign him...
Posted by: Kiwi | May 23, 2007 at 02:29 PM
There is plenty of oppurtunity here for the Lakers if they play there cards right and are willing to deal Bynum and possibly Lamar. They could look at Portland and go for Zach, Jarred Jack and we would probably have to take Miles but in return we would send them Odom and cook. Trust me if you look at the stats we dont loose much in that deal. the Lakers could also look at Memphis and offer Bynum. Kwame, and Farmar for Gasol, there 4th pick which could be Brewer. Brewer would be a better cheaper option than artest and he has good upside. then we would just need a point guard
Posted by: thebigchill | May 23, 2007 at 02:34 PM
B$,
By the time Sabonis got to the NBA, his knees were shot, and he was still pretty darn good. When he was younger, supposedly he was as good as any bigman ever.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | May 23, 2007 at 02:34 PM
B$,
Yeah, Sabonis was pretty hobbled by the end of his career. But overseas and for a while in Portland, we was pretty solid. He averaged 16/10 one season. And he really did move the ball well. The NBA never really got the best of what he could do.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | May 23, 2007 at 02:37 PM
!!! THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT WHO WE ACQUIRE !!!
ATTITUDE and locker room chemistry are easily as important as skills in making a WINNING team. All the Laker greats - from Mikan through Kareem and Magic were all-for-one guys who made us better by instilling a strong team spirit. We won 3 with Shaq and Kobe when #24 (then #8) was willing to be second banana. When he came into his own, Shaq's ego got bruised, they conflicted, the locker room chemistry went sour, and we could NO LONGER win even with both of them AND Malone & Peyton.
HERE's the TRUTH:
*** Kwame is a cancer. He pouts, he complains, he looks for his headband when his man is scoring on the other end cause he doesn't like the ref's call, he inspires No ONE. Get RID of him while he has ANY value.
*** Artest is a cancer. Every locker room he plays in winds up degenerating into players blaming each other. TWO teams that made the playoffs 12 years running disappeared this year due to Artest caused damage. Do NOT take him even if they GIVE him away!
We need to build on Kobe & Lamar & Turiaf & Farmar - they lead by example and are inspiring TEAM players. Luke & Evans too if resigning works economically.
Yes we desperately NEED new veteran players. But we are NOT just looking for a skill set. We are looking for a WINNING and inspiring all-for-one ATTITUDE in the players we bring in that will create GREAT Team CHEMISTRY. How do the Pistons do it with no superstars?? THINK!
Anyone who wants to keep Kwame or get Artest is CRAZY - unless you want the me-first losing attitude that's started to creep into our ballclub to get WORSE!
Posted by: Jay Jay | May 23, 2007 at 02:38 PM
Aloha TaosHum
I understand where you are coming from but I still have to disagree. You have to judge Lamar by his over all game. His offense was inconsistant at times but he was averaging 19 a game before the injuries. I agree that we do have to add another scorer but I just feel that Lamars over value out weighs the couple of points that the formentioned guys bring. I think we can find another scorer for the 1 spot or 5 spot without giving up Lamar.
MH
Posted by: michael h | May 23, 2007 at 02:40 PM
Ramses,
"First of all, you're just a complete idiot. I can tell by your posting that you are studying to get your GED. Because of your poor spelling and juvenile grammer your new name should be grammer24"
I GUESS YOU JUST PUT YOUR FOOT IN YOUR OWN MOUTH! LOL!
"Ramses,
Actually, it's spelled "grammar". FYI."
THANKS EX. FOR EXPLAINING TO RAMSES HOW YOU SPELL GRAMMAR!
I GUESS WE KNOW WHO'S STUDYING TO GET THEIR GED?
After making yourself look like the dumbest idiot on the blog today, i have nothing else to say to you.
Posted by: gunner24 | May 23, 2007 at 02:42 PM
JayJay,
"How do the Pistons do it with no superstars?? THINK!"
Ooh, ooh, Mr. Kotter!!
They have a team full of all-stars!!
Posted by: exhelodrvr | May 23, 2007 at 02:42 PM
THANKS GUY'S
I WASN'T EVEN GOING 2 TRY 2 REMEMBER HIS NAME ,LET ALONE TRYING 2 SPELL IT.
HE WAS A GOOD PASSING BIGMAN,BUT KOBE DUNK ON HIM SOMETHING TREABLE INTHE PLAY-OFFS.
AN THAT'S WHEN I BECAME A KOBE FAN FOR-REAL,I NEW THEN THIS GUY GOING 2 BE REAL.
Posted by: COMPTON'S FINEST | May 23, 2007 at 02:44 PM
Had Sabonis been able to play in his prime in the NBA, he'd likely be remembered as one of the better centers of the last 25 years, I would guess.
The guy was monumentally skilled, especially for a big (predating some of today's seven foot Euros who play around the perimeter).
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | May 23, 2007 at 02:45 PM
I just hope Mitch Kupcake have time and will to read this blog. There's a lot of brilliant proposed trades here from the brilliant bloggers that our GM can analyze and learn from it. I'm just amazed how smart and creative people we have here in this blog. I wish one of you will be a GM in the future.
Posted by: dacsila | May 23, 2007 at 02:47 PM
Gino,
I'm with you to a point on you trade prospects. I think Farmar is a keeper. He's young, has heart, plays hard, good shooter, a little above avg court vision with avg defense skills. He has the "potential"(seeing this word a lot on the this blog, including from myself), to be a great PG. If he can avoid the Soph slump (which Bynum went through) he could be something special. And I think you might have to many moving peices for this team. Unless Phil decides the triangle is no good(which ain't happening), there won't be a great turnover of players, becuase that means you will have 7-8 guys trying to learn the triangle. KB will not be willing to stick around here long enough to teach a whole new crop of guys the triangle. But I do notice you trimmed the fat off of the team of guys who are not worth what they are making(the jury is still out on V-Rad), so in that regard I really hope we can make those type of trades. Also I notice we show (more often than not) examples of trades with teams straight up, there is always the option of getting a team or 2 involved. Just because someone is trash to us and maybe trash to Minnesota, and Memphis might not be trash to someone in the east like Atlanta, Boston, NY. Remember they are trying to get to the playoffs to.
Posted by: richtown | May 23, 2007 at 02:50 PM
Jay Jay -
You're wrong about Artest.
The difference between Kwame and Artest is that Kwame doesn't really care about winning or about basketball. Kwame is a follower, someone who doesn't like a lot of attention.
Artest, on the other hand, cares maybe too much. He's intense. He wants to win. He's a leader who doesn't shy away from attention (good or bad).
Personally, I'd rather have someone on the team with a lot of energy that we need to re-channel. I direct for the stage, and I'm constantly telling actors to bring more energy - we can always tone it down, but it's much harder to get more out of them. Same thing in basketball. I'd much rather have a dude with too much energy than not enough.
The problem with this year's team wasn't a "losing" attitude or a "me-first" attitude, it was that there were some guys (Smush, Kwame, Cook) who didn't really seem to care if we won or not on any given night. MOTIVATION was a problem. ENERGY was a problem. Do you honestly believe that Ron Artest is going to have a problem with either of those two things?
I think once Ron gets a taste of playing with Kobe and Lamar and under Phil, he's going to blossom. No, he's not going to transform into a model citizen overnight, but I think he will play hard. I think the comparison with Rodman is very apt - Ron is just not focusing his energy properly, same as Rodman. He just needs to figure out how to be productive and maintain his quirkiness. Rodman was a champion rebounder, Artest is a Defensive Player of the Year.
And whoever said that Rodman wasn't violent obviously forgot that time he kicked the cameraman in the jimmy underneath the basket.
Bottom line, Artest's skills are too good and too ideally suited for this team's needs NOT to take a chance on him. Couple that with the fact that he wants to be here and the people associated with the team want him here, and I think it's a very good move.
Posted by: SBPimp | May 23, 2007 at 02:56 PM