Report Card: Ronny Turiaf
There is no question that over the last two seasons, the Lakers have enjoyed an unbelievable bargain in Ronny Turiaf. This year, at barely over $770K, Turiaf gave the Lakers over 18 minutes a night, and 
career highs in points (6.6), rebounds (3.9), blocks (1.4), assists (1.6), and free-throw percentage (75.3). All that, plus epic sideline dances and other displays of his seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm for the game and his teammates.
The days of supreme value, however, are over. If the Lakers are to keep Turiaf, they'll have to pony up. How much, I'm not sure. L.A. can match any offer, but given the rarefied air Dr. Buss is breathing these days, well above the luxury tax, if another team makes a big offer, Ronny could very well be in another uniform next year. I've never been good at predicting what a player might get on the open market, so I won't try. Still, now that there's a business decision to be made about Turiaf's future in L.A., it's time to get to the business of figuring out what exactly Turiaf brings, putting aside for a minute how much everyone likes the guy. (As well they should. If you don't dig Ronny-the-person, the problem is you, not him.)
Ronny wasn't a perfect player this year, and in increased minutes we saw some of his flaws come out as well. He is, for example, not a particularly good finisher around the basket, and his offensive game is centered more around extending the floor and taking the mid-range jumper- a weapon he used with far more frequency this season, helping to explain the drop in his FG% from the season previous- than it is moves in the post. He is also, despite his impressive block numbers, still pretty foul prone inside. There were moments this season when the biggest obstacle for him to overcome was himself. 2.55 PFs a night, translating to 6.5 per 48, highest on the team among anyone who played real minutes.
On the other hand, it's vitally important to remember that Turiaf spent most of the year playing out of position at center, where he is generally overmatched physically. Given the chance to play more PF, his lack of an NBA quality post game is less of an issue, and defensively his responsibilities change. And while the lasting memory of Ronny this season might be his shortened minutes during the playoffs, especially in the Finals where he wasn't all that effective, a quick check of his game log is a reminder of how many times he stepped up and played big minutes for the Lakers.
Some of it was out of necessity, because of injuries and trades- as Ronny himself admitted in his exit interview, often PJ had literally nobody else to play. That doesn't mean the time he spent on the court was a detriment, though. In 21 games as a starter, Ronny contributed 10.5/5.2/2.6/1.9, shooting over 50% from the floor. Not bad for a role player, especially one often pressed into playing out of position.
If you're a Hollinger guy, his PER was over 15, higher than Sasha, Fish, Vlad Rad, and Luke Walton.
Given his role on the team, there's no question that Ronny performed admirably this year. He filled cracks in the lineup to the best of his ability, and again showed himself to be much more than simply an "energy guy," a pigeon holing tag he dislikes. He's not necessarily a game changer, and I'm still not convinced he's a starting caliber player in the league, but there's no question he was an important part of what the Lakers accomplished this season, doing everything expected of him, plus a few things that weren't.
Whether that's a luxury they'll be able to afford next season is something we'll have to wait and see.
GRADE: B
BK
Hard to believe no Draft Thread
Posted by: Do You See What I See | June 26, 2008 at 05:44 PM
Sonny - how do you feel about Sac's pick? I was a bit surprised about that one.
Posted by: dave m | June 26, 2008 at 05:50 PM
Ronny T sucks just like t he rest of the Fakers.
hahahahhaahahahah
Yak miss mees?
Go paak da ka!
You ladies are starting to bore me. I'll come back when yous gots something more interesting to talk about.
How about how the Celtics will repeat next year?
Your Starlet Bryant will be a tired old 29-year-old next season when the Wannabe Jordan Olympic team loses AGAIN with Mr. "I can get off anytime" Bryant trying to steal the show at the olympics.
haahahahhaah
Celts win!
Celts win!
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 26, 2008 at 05:59 PM
Exhelo- Way to funny. even my wife is laughing at that.
Heimie, how's my a** taste?
-Shaq
Posted by: Fairweather Fatty | June 26, 2008 at 06:15 PM
The one thing I noticed about Rony this year was, he was a much better player when he was getting big minutes. He would kind of disappear at times when he wasn't. With Drew back and Pau at PF, unless there are major injuries or a trade, he will not be getting a lot of minutes next year. That could be a concern.
MH
Posted by: michael h | June 26, 2008 at 06:17 PM
West Coast is Best!
6 of top 15 players are from the Pac 10. None from ACC. 1 from the Big East. What happened to the East coast?
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | June 26, 2008 at 06:20 PM
Here's my prediction:
Jerryd Bayless is going to turn out to be a very good player
and Brandon Rush is going to turn out to be something of a bust.
If Portland swaps draft pics with you, you know they'll get
the better of the deal.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | June 26, 2008 at 06:44 PM
Awwww... Seattle picked Serge Ibaka.... well, there's still D.J. White and Richard Hendrix...
Posted by: dave m | June 26, 2008 at 07:00 PM
Stern looks a little more weary, each tome he trudges out to the podium.
Posted by: dave m | June 26, 2008 at 07:03 PM
Spurs got Hill
Posted by: Thirty2 | June 26, 2008 at 07:25 PM
I like BK's assessment. Covers a lot and struck me as very fair.
I feel like Ronny did get exposed, but still feel like he's got room to grow. I would match any but the most outrageous offers. Buss can afford it and Ronny is great for chemistry. That's special and I don't want to f with it.
Sasha saying his pay is a business decision isn't being disloyal to the Lakers, he's being loyal to himself, like every other player in the NBA. You just can't ask a guy to take one for the team when you're talking salary. It's not how it works.
The CBA even prevents players from taking a paycut to make room for another player they might want on their team.
Posted by: Benjamin | June 26, 2008 at 07:39 PM
Boston gets..JR Gidens.............Come on Lakers....
NATHAN JAWAI......Come on
Posted by: Thirty2 | June 26, 2008 at 07:42 PM
Hello Laker Fans,
I love Ronny, and I hope he stays a Laker. I'd just like to mention that during the middle of the season, I remember reading in a Philadelphia newspaper that Turiaf is highly regarded by the Sixers and would be targeted during this offseason. I hope they don't take him though. He's a decent player and also one of those glue guys that contributes to team camraderie that cannot be measured in a box score.
Posted by: GFunk | June 26, 2008 at 07:46 PM
LakerTom,
"The Los Angeles Lakers will look to trade Luke Walton, possibly with Chris Mihm to balance salaries" Eric Pincus
Is it possible to trade the rights of these two players to future draft picks and how much will the Lakers absorb out from their salaries: Luke has still 5 years at 22M and Mihm at 2.5M? Mihm has trade values but for those GM's reading the Lakers Blog, no one will ever consider Luke. lol!
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | June 26, 2008 at 07:54 PM
OH, NO!
WHAT IF POOR, POOR RONNY LEAVES?
SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!
Posted by: Luigi999 | June 26, 2008 at 08:45 PM
Lakers take Joe Crawford.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | June 26, 2008 at 09:02 PM
Best comment from ESPN's Live Draft Chat...
After the Lakers drafted Joe Crawford...
"Buzzmaster: Was that Joe Crawford the ref that got picked?
Can they do that?"
LOL
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | June 26, 2008 at 09:03 PM
Darrell Collison undrafted.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | June 26, 2008 at 09:06 PM
Lakers Draft Joe Crawford at #58
It seems clear to me that the Lakers are finding a backup SG to play behind Kobe. If nothing else this is some insurance should Sasha jet for the big bucks.
Is this evidence that the Lakers are shaky on the possibility or retaining Sasha?
Posted by: theDude | June 26, 2008 at 09:13 PM
collison didnt declare for the draft... he opted to stay for his senior year.
Posted by: | June 26, 2008 at 09:15 PM
here's what i think let ronny go if it meant signing him for more than 1.5 mil just take what you can in fa for vet minimum. Other than cheerleading there's not much he can bring and he often gets push around he's not big enough or strong enough. Same with vujacic we can get a veteran todo his work if he's gonna cost more.
Posted by: jus10 | June 26, 2008 at 10:01 PM
Lakers should also untie the log jam at sf by trading 2sf namely rad and walton for one defensiv sf or pf/c combo
Posted by: jus10 | June 26, 2008 at 10:08 PM
here's what i think let ronny go if it meant signing him for more than 1.5 mil just take what you can in fa for vet minimum. Other than cheerleading there's not much he can bring and he often gets push around he's not big enough or strong enough. Same with vujacic we can get a veteran todo his work if he's gonna cost more.
Posted by: jus10 | June 27, 2008 at 02:18 AM
Turiaf has great team member qualities and I think this is a guy the Lakers want on their side in a physical finals series.
Ronny Turiaf wears #21 which is weird to me as I think Coop when I see him. My work around is to think of him as the Bulked Michael Cooper (BMC). Lakers attempted to get Coop to add bulk, so mission accomplished. Some notable tradeoffs in return for the added power: Not as good covering the guard positions and for some reason the 3-point shot has disappeared.
Posted by: Doublehaul | June 27, 2008 at 05:38 AM
the lakers need to worry about signing sasha first and foremost. turiaf can be replaced, it's not like he scores any points. it's harder to replace 3 point shooting. at least their getting chris mihm back who did used to be the starting center.the lakers need to trade odom for a small forward who can shoot.
Posted by: pittsburghlakerfan | June 27, 2008 at 06:00 AM
Edwin Guerco,
Miracles do happen, we just shouldn't manage our life on the position of expecting them to happen.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | June 27, 2008 at 07:48 AM
I'll stick to Ronny here since it's his report card. Love Ronny - he is a WCC guy so I have to stay loyal there.
My thought is that if Ronny works on his D this Summer (all aspects) and knocking down shots within 10 feet of basket - I think that would be a HUGE asset to the Lakers. He absolutely did play out of position this year but there was no choice. And I think PJ liked the fact that Ronny was amenable to doing whatever it took. There is value there even if he was mediocre.
He has the size and can play C or PF. Lakers need size on their team especially off the bench and in the low post. Sorry LakerTom and others: hate to breat it to you but AB17 won't be able to play 48 minutes every night. And while Mihm is a good backup - he's essentially another Pau (skinny/dare I say soft).
But if Ronny played okay defense this year, none of us would be having this discussion - he would be a good guy to keep on the team. But focus on shot blocking, pushing the bigs out for jumpers and being a rebounding hog while in control of fouls. We would take that off our bench any day.
I say keep him - $3mm a year for 4 is a good deal and he would be stupid to pass that up.
GO LAKERS!!
Posted by: PsychedLakerGirl | June 27, 2008 at 08:43 AM
What we have to fear about Ronnie is that he plays admirably at Center though undersized. There are plenty of teams out there that lack height. Ronnie would be a bargain to one of those teams, even at an inflated price.
Plus, he can play long stretches of relative dominance in the East, which lacks a lot of height overall. He can single-handily net a small-ish Eastern squad 4 or 5 extra wins. That's worth a lot of money to a team that knows it can get into the playoffs with a loosing record.
I just hope he stays, because even though his stats are quite impressive for a 2nd round pick, what he brings to the team can't be found in the box score.
Just my $.02
--Fearless
F the F'ing Celtics
Posted by: Fearless | June 27, 2008 at 09:32 AM