For those readers concerned Luke Walton was severely overpaid

I do believe that Luke, unlike other recent Laker signings, will earn his money.

Wes

I know this would create unlimited amounts of jokes for the K-Bros, but I wonder if we are one of the teams calling with interest for Darko Milicic.

Orlando definitely won't sign him for what he thought he would have received and there are only a couple teams under the cap that could offer him more than the MLE, and from what I've seen, they aren't in need of what he gives.

So if it's playing time the guy wants, and he's willing to take the MLE, he might be a guy we look at.

Of course having the two biggest draft busts EVER in Kwame Brown and Darko Milicic on the same team might be just enough to solidify Mitch Kupchak's legend in the pantheon of bad GMs, but again, he's a talented big man who would be relatively cheap at the MLE.

We shouldn't discount Carroll...he averaged 12 points per game last season and shot 43% from trey. It's hard to put a price tag on having that reliable a shooter on the floor, especially in terms of the impact on spacing.

I'd take Carroll over Luke at this point. A little quicker and can make shots when they count. Not to mention cheaper. As far as trade bait, Luke is worthless. We could have at least seen what some other squad would have offered that turtle.

There isn't a single free agent on the market that I would be happy signing to the kind of money they are probably going to get.

Unfortunately we don't have the Suns or Spurs cache where guys will take a lower salary (i.e. Grant Hill) to play for a contender.

We need to either land KG (which it seems we are holding out for), take a risk on Darko, offer Fish a portion of the MLE for a MAX of three years, and then hold tight.

All of our assets get better as the season progresses, and if Kobe keeps his mouth shut we lose the air of desperation that engulfs this franchise/fan base right now.

Andrew Z,

If the Lakers could get Darko for the MLE, I'd jump at it in a heartbeat. Are you kidding me? Between his size, young age, upside, shot blocking ability, and my unabashed fascination with the truly bizarre turns of Darko's career, that's a "can't pass up" signing as far as I'm concerned. I mean, the man had a frosted dye job doing for a while. haha

AK

AK,

IDK, I think Carroll is actually worth the money he got. He's got a pure jumpshot, and can take the ball off the dribble if need be. I don't know how his defense or passing is, but if I were to compare the players based on what I know, I think I would rather have Carroll.

I know some people aren't going to like seeing this, but I think Carroll is just a better all-around player. Like I said, I don't know how he is defensively, but he can't be much worse than Luke, and he's a better offensive player than Luke. I like Luke, but just going off of what I've seen i'd take Carroll.

The only problems that I have is that Luke was injured during the second half into the season and in the postseason due to that ankle injury. That injury is very nagging because it can re-injur itself easily since there isn't much ligaments in the first place. I am just hoping that management took that into consideration when re-signing Luke and if he had completely healed. Luke makes the offense run and he did a spectacular job in the first half of the season and he did deserve that money, but not in the second half of the season. The second problem is the length of the contract. Five years would have been suffice becasue we don't want to get stuck with another Vlad aka I dropped my coffee cuz it was too hot and I didn't want to spill it on the icy floor because then it was going to melt the ice and I could have fallen and broken something so I dived after it and dislocated my shoulder for trying to be a hero and saving myself. I added a little to the story line to make it sound more believable.

Hey can anyone post the grade ESPN Insider gave Walton? I´m too cheap to buy. I´m currently in Spain right now and the time is 7:45 PM. I´ve been asking the locals about our second round pick ,Gasol, (if I realize they do watch the NBA) and not too many people know this kid besides being Pau´s sibling.
I´ve been staying in Madrid for the past couple days, and I´m surprised to see basketball courts installed in the local parks. I don´t see too many people playing as the courts, which have soccer nets adjacent to the baskets, are often used for original football. Also, not too many people care about Beckham leaving as their loyalties are strongly tied to Real Madrid.

The NBA is playing Monopoly on steroids.

The cap demands less + the players demand more = the public gets a diluted product. The '85 Lakers couldn't be assembled today and all historical comaprisons, a favorite game on this blog, are irrelevant.

If it takes 3 "go to" pieces to win it all then some one or two of them has to be willing to take less come contract time. There just isn't anymore room on the bottom line.

Luke's $ was only disappointing if you were looking for a savior. Saviors arent' available in that price range. LO's price range is another story.

Hey I have a question for all you guys. HOw do you guys feel that D-Fish's 1st choice was to go to NYC, not LA? I understand the specialists his daughter was seeing is in NY, but im sure there are qualified specialists in LA also.

Should we look at it as Dfish not wanting to play with Kobe again, or that he wants to deal with those specialist only?

This is probably only a question DFish can answer himself, just wanted to know what you guys thought after reading some articles on foxsports.com

5 mil can get you a Grant Hill.

AK,

There are very few teams that can offer Darko more than the MLE. He could get more money via sign and trade, but with signing Lewis the Magic really can't take the salaries back (or don't want to).

Darko has said he wants PT, and I'm thinking he's a pretty good fit with us (shot blocker and post scorer).

In addition, he would fill a major need if we do make a big trade where our entire front court would have to be moved.

As for the Carroll signing, it's a great MJ move, a head scratcher. Let's just add Jordan to the list of Bird, McHale, and Isaiah of great players who absolutely SUCK as GM's. Jordan is horrendous.

personally i actually never thought that walton is getting overpaid one bit with his new contract, if anything he is bound to it almost the rest of his career now and wont be able to potentially earn bigger bucks down the road if salaries go up or he improves significantly still and teams are willing to give him more money for less years. besides you cant just give the max contract to the top star on the team and give everybody else the bare minimum. If you play in the NBA obviously your gonna get atleast this type of money i figured people would realize this by now, its 2007 wasn't jordan pulling down like 30mill a year back in the day?

tripgame 3, never

Tripgame3,
D-Fish said that he would like to play in NY because that is where his daughter's doctor is located as you mentioned earlier. D-Fish will still have the same problem if he plays in L.A. because he is still going to have to travel to N.Y. to see the specialist. There are a couple of good specialists in L.A., but the hospital that D-Fish is located in N.Y. since it is a hospital designed to treat that specific disease so let us not blow it out of proportion and conclude that D-Fish does not want to play along side with Kobe.

Never, espn gave a B+ for the signing of Luke for the immediate future since he a good passer and knows the offense well, but for the long term they gave the Lakers a D+ since the contract length exceeded the norm for a Luke Walton player.

Since the KG talk has died down, I suggest we start a getdarko.com website; I wonder if anyone is going to offer up more than the MLE for him. If they don't we should jump at the chance. It's not like we're trading Caron Butler for him or anything.

Violater,
"its 2007 wasn't jordan pulling down like 30mill a year back in the day"

Jordan's situation was unique. He wasn't making major dough in the early stages of his career so he and his agent made sure he got paid in the latter stages. In his final 3 years, he was signing only 1 year contracts and renegotiating at the end of every season. It was at that point that he was getting up to 30mil per season.

"5 mil can get you a Grant Hill."

umm i'd rather give luke that money. we've had enough of playing folks to watch from the bench in recent years. no need to add grant's bum ankle to the mix

REPOST

1) Forward/Center Improvement – Darko Milicic ~ Sign & Trade
Chicago receives Chris Mihm
Orlando receives Brian Cook and Thabo Sefolosha
LA Lakers receive Darko Milicic and Malik Allen

Explanation: This is the opportunity for the Lakers to benefit from a strange situation. Chris Mihm, Darko Milicic and Brian Cook all appear to have market value right now. Most of this has been created by the interest from the Bulls for both Mihm and Milicic. This trade would allow the Bulls to get one of those coveted big men (Mihm). This trade would allow the Magic to get something decent for Milicic (Cook) as well as some more help at guard/forward (Sefolosha). This trade would give the Lakers more defensive strength and depth at forward/center (Milicic and Allen).

2) Small Forward Improvement – Corey Maggette ~ 3-Team Trade
Indiana receives Tim Thomas, Aaron Williams, Kwame Brown and future pick(s)
LA Clippers receive Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, and future pick(s)
LA Lakers receive Corey Maggette

Explanation: Give the Pacers and Clippers what they want, and hope they don’t notice what the Lakers get. The Pacers unload 2 “bad contracts” while taking the expiring contracts of Brown and Williams. Although Thomas’ contract is not favorable, it is much more workable than either Dunleavy or Murphy, while maintaining the level of production. The Clippers would finally move Maggette, bring Dunleavy Jr. to play for his father, and add additional depth at forward/center with Murphy. Although they would be adding contracts, the end result could be getting back to the playoffs. The Lakers would be adding the third piece of the winning triangle they have been trying to create.

Point Guard Improvement – Derek Fisher
Sign FA Point Guard Derek Fisher to 3yr/$15mil contract with player options for yr. 2 and 3.

Explanation: Given that the other areas would be addressed, the MLE would be left to use on Derek Fisher. Hopefully the Lakers will not allow themselves to lose out on Derek Fisher again because they are not willing to pay him. This is a golden opportunity that honestly the Lakers don’t deserve. Sign him and enjoy the benefits that come with it.

New Roster:
Starting Five – Fisher, Bryant, Maggette, Odom and Bynum
Reserves – Farmar, Vujacic, Evans, Walton, Radmanovic, Turiaf, Milicic
Inactive List – Crittenton, minimum contract or draft picks (Yue and Gasol)

These three steps address the major needs for the Lakers this off-season in a financially reasonable way. They don’t make the Lakers instant title contenders; however, there are no options this summer that would be guaranteed to do so. At the very least, this would put them in the same category as the Utah Jazz, as a team with potential above that of expectations.

Paul Hefti,
"Buss should sell the Lakers and go buy China,"

Oh, come on now. Buss wouldn't trade the Lakers for all the teat in China!!

Tripgame,

Just to clarify, my dad didn't say NYC and Boston were the top 2 centers. Those were just the two that first jumped to mind for him. I just meant that I could believe Fish might think New York was the best place to handle this situation, regardless of anything involving hoops.

AK

Grant Hill disappears on the cheap...now where is the Laker mystique? for as cheap as he signed he did a good thing to get on a contender.
Allowing the Lakers to wallow in the dump is why players will not come here. No commitment, no gambles, no rallying, too slow and so often left looking as the next news breaks that it reminds me of smush on defense. Kobe should be pushing guys to come here and make a whole bunch of that surplus money he has lost in his own world of stupidity. LA is a great city to make money in, and no where better to be in the MTV world which all these players adore. Mitch- put that in your rap...something anything, make a trade this team needs some life.
That KG video was sad. He would be a huge plus as a Laker. All kinds of players can help but this guy makes a difference.

Darko actually is a better shot blocker than Kwame and also is a better offensive player. No offense to Mike T. but at this point, Kwame is a bigger bust. Signing Darko to the MLE would be a bargain.

With alll the MT every day publicity of kwame brown defensive marvels some in this blog thing that he is really what MTeniente say.

Wrong.

Brown lacks in three or four important aspects that a good interior defenser provide.

Blocking shots, Offensive and deffensive rebounds, good positioning under the basket, stopping guards penetration.
Kwame is mediocre in all those.

The only thing Kwame can do is just be a strong wall against a player post up in the paint. Besides that, he is a failure. Part of our defensive problems is inside, not only outside. Lamar is very weak inside, Kwame is a ghost, Bynum is a foul waiting to happen, react to late, don't fight enought for positioning because he is intimidated easily for physical and athletic guys like Amare. Walton is slower than Yao, moving around.

If Kobe can have a tandem of Gasol and Milicic, plus Lamar in small forward or Nocioni, Fisher in the point. This team can win 50 games easily.

With silly players like Bynum and Brown, Not Vlad, Walton hobbling in a ankle, Cook stupid defensive reactions, Sasha frenetic errors and not good shooting, Farmar inexperience and inefective outside shooting, Lamar in 75 % healthy state, Smush shenanigans and atrocious defense, Kobe at least went to playoff and won 40 games.

Imagine Kobe transported in team with Phoenix Suns players?

60 plus games and a easy win over San Antonio.

Generic,

"How about a lineup of Beno, Marko, Hedo, Darko and Zarko?"

That's why you're never getting banned from this blog. Kudos.

AK