FIRST

I hear Garbajosa is being offered more in Europe as well.

Wealth seems to be transferring hands. I wish it were transferring to my hands.

Go Obama!
Go Lakers!

I think it would be absolutel awesome if he went to Europe for their offer. I think it would be bigger news than most make it out to be, and could be a sign of things to come.

Combine this with Brandon Jennings going to Europe instead of Arizona and you have a couple good examples of what is wrong with the current system.

Not only Josh Childress will be going to Europe to have a higher income. It started last year with Jasikevicious, Papaloukas and this year with Carlos Navarro, rumors with Delfino too. I'm sure Pelinka is presenting the options to Sasha with Khimki Moscow offer, theyalso want to get Garbajosa and so forth. NBA is the destination to win a ring and be recognized but Europe is the place where you can earn more. Blame it to the Bush Administration for this currency fluctuation.

Monday, July 21, 2008

1 Euro = 1.58524 US Dollar

1 US Dollar (USD) = 0.63082 Euro (EUR

So we are the Americans continue to export jobs, transfer technology, sell our NBA players and very soon sell our freedom too. Sad, sad, sad.

Edwin Gueco -

While Mr. Bush might be partly to blame for economic woes, I wouldn't put this squarely on his shoulders.

Where did you get the info on Sasha potentially leaving? I'm concerned; he could easily make more money in europe than here. Crazy how FIBA contracts have nothing to do with NBA ones! I wouldn't blame him for skipping town, however.

Hi All:

AK/BK - good job handling the craziness of the other "boys will be boys" thread. But it looks like all appeared to calm down when the LG's pitures were posted. Now on to something I can relate to.... $$$.

I definitely see this as a trend - sad to say. But given the US economic situation and sophistication of our banking/currency system, overseas players can now hedge their dollar currency contracts against the euro and stabilize their pay. So, there's no reason a US player can't do the opposite.

The can of worms will be which players have the financial savvy and proper representation to receive good advice.

It would be a shame for Josh Childress to leave for greener pastures (so to say) but he might do really well, get a lot of press and come back to the states being able to earn a much bigger payday. I still think there is enough talent in the US and I doubt there will be drastic measures by the League office. The bigger stars know their paydays are right here in the good ole USofA

GO LAKERS!

Keep the political comments to yourself or this blog will really get out of hand.

What's so wrong about players going overseas? Don't we all want the quality of other leagues to get better?

In time, FIBA should create a basketball club competition, a la the Champions League (biggest soccer event only below the World Cup), in which the best clubs in the world compete for a "champions cup." It would definitely help provide exposure for the elite teams in the NBA, such as the Spurs, that most in the world don't even know about.

Here's a little something to remind us all of what type of player we'll be getting back at the start of next season.

Andrew Bynum "The Sky is the Limit"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XmgF6InSxPs&feature=related

The always popular, "The Making of the beast"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9efsJwJxYEk&feature=related

Benny Blanca,

>>>7 mil a year for a guy of his talent is too much money
>>>for NBA teams to afford

Actually, 7 million a year for Childress is a fair deal.

But I think if some team offered Childress a deal for that
exact amount that Atlanta would match it. And unfortunately
for Childress, Memphis is the only team left with that much
cap space, and they aren't planning on spending it.

And hell yeah, that fro is quite the intangible! Is there any other player in the NBA that can bring it like that?

Probably not since 1979.

I think that the european players who are returning the old continent aren't doing it just for money. They do came to the NBA for money, and now they are leaving after being systematically underrated by the franchises. Most of these players, such as Garbajosa or Nachbar or Jasikevicius, can make real money in europe and also being important players for their teams. Not just being the funny guy who speaks four esoteric languages and is seventh in the rotation and never will be the starter of a match.
This migration is probably due to the recent international competitions (olympic games, world championship) that has shown basketball in europe is stronger than they were initially thinking.

And finally, just remind you that in RUSSIA (Moscow is in russia), they don't have euros, they have rubles. And they are not near to become part of the european union (by far).

such is life, anybody watch the ESPY's, I didn't on purpose!

I played against childress when he was at mayfair ...nice guy and super athlete. single handedly knocked us out of CIF in the second round.

i'm not good at GM'ing or math, but it would be sweet if he could come back to the southland to play. clippers maybe as they could afford him?

cheers,

chick penberthy

Been waiting for players to start jumping to the Euro leagues. You can't just ignore the tremendous difference in what the dollar buys or doesn't buy these days. Not sure why somebody would say for sure it's a step down. Think about it, here, you're a role player, over there, you're the star of the team AND you get paid almost double what you would be getting here. I mean... going to Utar for a game is nice during the winter, you have to join a special "club" to simply buy a drink or... you could travel across Europe playing basketball making almost twice as much as you do here... LOL! How horrible...

Ben Wallace has a pretty awesome 'fro when he picks it out.

I would rate his at the same level as Josh's.

Jon K - you're killing me! I'm at work reading the thread & came across your 'fro comments & how the bald look is good for BK - LMAO!!! It's a good thing no one's here! You, sir, are too funny, and what's even funnier to me is that I don't think you even mean to be most of the time - LOL!

lakersrydeordie - I watched most of it last night, but turned it off to watch a movie right before they awared the male athlete & best team. Unfortunately for me, they had the repeat going when I worked out at lunch today so I caught Ray "I'M LOW CLASS" Allen get up to the mike after they announced the Celtic's won for Best Team, and say "another win in LA". Piece of crap. I hope he chokes on that fricken ESPY. I hope someone ties it around his neck like an anchor & drops him off a bridge or dumps him into the ocean or something. I HATE THE CELTICS. I can't wait for the Purple & Gold to clean their clocks this coming season, and wipe that smarmy smirk off his butt-ugly face. AARRGGHH.

Long Time,

>>>>>You might be about to get a precedent for your "Bynum will
>>>>>get so insulted he'll walk" theory. Word is Luol Deng has told
>>>>>the Bulls that unless they reach an extension with him before
>>>>>he leaves to join the Great Britain national team in two weeks,
>>>>>he will end talks and take the 1-year tender and leave next year.

I truthfully don’t expect that the Lakers will have any problems reaching an agreement with Drew for an extension before October 31. Mitch knows how to negotiate at this level and in this arena and would never say or present anything that Drew or his agent could conceivably interpret as an insult. And it is not a matter of just being careful not to insult your player, but more important to intentionally show your respect for him, especially in when Drew and his agent will be watching and analyzing every word and expression.

While I don’t think Drew is the type to take umbrage at most things, you have to remember what kind of ego and competitive spirit he must have, no matter how humble he may appear, to have gone out and accomplished what he has at only 20 years of age. Show him your respect, treat him like the franchise player that he is, and you will win more in negotiations than you ever would by hard balling or down playing how valuable and critically important Drew is to the present and the future of the Lakers.

>>>>>But note that although he turned down the 50 million dollar
>>>>>offer last summer, he did at least come back to the table this
>>>>>summer. If Bynum isn't happy with what the Lakers offer him,
>>>>>I'm sure he'll at least negotiate with them next summer, and
>>>>>I'm sure he'll get offered what he's worth.

Just remember that if the Lakers do not sign Drew to an extension this summer, he will become a free agent before the Lakers will be allowed to sign him to a new contract. And even if the Lakers tender a qualifying offer to him, which they obviously would, Drew is under no pressure to sign with the Lakers and the Lakers would have no leverage to keep him from just accepting the qualifying offer and joining the 2009/10 free agent class.

Tom

Sign me up for the Vlad Radmanovic to play in Europe bandwagon, also the Luke Walton Euro bandwagon too.
That will take care of the 2 biggest Laker contract problems and allow the team to sign up a couple of better players.

Xodus,

>>>>> Here's a little something to remind us all of what type of player
>>>>>we'll be getting back at the start of next season.

Thanks for the links, Karl. I had not seen “The Sky is the Limit” and seen “The Making of a Beast” so many times that it would have been worn out if it were not digital. LOL.

Tom

chick penberthy,

>>>i may be wrong, but i thought the clips had about 3 M /
>>>yr. left from the brand vacuum after they picked up
>>>camby.

They did... until they signed Kelenna Azubuike (assuming
Golden State doesn't match).

But since they had cap space, the Clippers won't get any exceptions
this year. So even if they could offer 3 million to somebody,
the Lakers could offer a full MLE which is closer to 6 million.

trade bynum for marc gasol that should teach him and his agent not to be greedy. He wants the max which is 80 for 5 yrs. Not . He isnt a 20-10 guy so its just too much.

It never occurred to me that loosing high-profile athletes could be yet another unpleasant side-effect of a weak dollar.

Who knew!

--Fearless

LOS ANGELES LAKERS: THE MAKING OF A BEAST

The Making of a Beast begins this October when the Lakers open training camp and begin building what will be a physically dominating team with Andrew Bynum anchoring center and aggressive new strategies defensively and possibly even offensively.

Andrew Bynum will transform the Lakers from the soft team physically out-toughed and out-played by Celtics in the NBA Finals to the dominant team that will physically control the paint and boards on offense and defense and win the 2009 NBA Championship.

I have already posted how I think Andrew’s ability to patrol the lane and protect the rim against penetration will enable the Lakers perimeter defenders to play their men tighter and press and trap opposing players to create steals and turnovers and ignite fast breaks. I think this will be the Lakers defensive strategy for 2009 and comments from Kobe and the Lakers front office seem to confirm this. It could be an exciting defense.

But the Lakers may also be considering a change in their offensive strategy to make them an even more formidable team to defend in the half court. In addition to running more, look for the Lakers to make Andrew Bynum their primary offensive option in half court situations. This means more isolating and posting up Drew as well as more pick and rolls feeding him the ball at the rim. The goal, of course, is to play inside-out basketball.

Making anyone other than Kobe Bryant the offensive focus of the Lakers may seem to be almost treasonous at first thought if not misguided, but think about the pressure that it puts on the other team’s defense. Or if you still don’t get it, think about the Shaq-Kobe three-peat. And there is no other player in the NBA who is more dominant around the rim at this time in my opinion other than Andrew Bynum, both 1-on-1 and off lobs.

Go dig out all of the old stories about how Shaq dominated the paint because you may be able to recycle them next year and just insert Drew’s name. No center playing today has sweeter moves, softer hands, higher basketball IQ, or more rim-shattering power in the NBA today than Andrew Bynum. And nobody shoots a higher percentage from the floor. Andrew Bynum may not end up leading the Lakers in scoring next season but he will be the Lakers second leading scorer next year and not many points behind Kobe.

The net effect of focusing on Andrew will be to improve the team’s field goal percentage, increase the number of fouls drawn and free throws shot, improve the team’s 3-point field goal percentage by taking fewer and better 3-point attempts, eliminate fast breaks from long rebounds on outside shots, and provide the Lakers with a more physical demeanor on offense that will carry over to the other end and translate into tougher defense.

The irony, of course, is that what we really are getting with Kobe and Drew versus Kobe and Shaq is a center who will more than match Shaq in talent but also match Kobe in the motivation to win NBA championships and willingness to do the hard work to get there. This time, we get the duo that not only works but will last for more than 3 years. That’s what the Making of a Beast is all about. The Lakers are about to become a beast.

Tom

The MLE and lux penalties designed to help control NBA salaries could be biting the NBA in the butt. Limiting teams over the cap offer could seriously hurt many teams.

Even if you think its necessary to keep teams from run away spending, I don't. It absolutely will hand-cuff NBA teams wanting to bid against Euro teams.

The NBA monopoly is being broken and they are worried for sure. This is relatively minor this year. Wait for the next two years.

I actually feel most GMs in this league are being jerks in this free agency year. They will not pay deserving players their money. And the Lakers are right in front of this mess. It's ridiculous the money they are offering Sasha. Show the guy you want him on this team. If an European team offer Sasha good money, he should take it and not look bad. The lakers are not treating him right at all.

I don think we are too far off from seeing a merger with the NBA and maybe an overrall European league. I would like to see that happen. It would be interesting to see a Lebron playing in Italy, and a Dwade playing in Spain. I hope a day like that comes. Imagine Kobe playing for Russia. Then you can also have Dirk playing for Germany against a NBA team. Pretty cool I think.

Please show respect for the Lakers blog and keep politics off the comments.

This is a Lakers blog. This place has no room for politics of any kind. Almost everyone comes here to get away from that stuff.

Like Rdlee said earlier, the blog will degenerate to a complete mess if it continues.

Resist the temptation to make cutting political remarks or this will no longer be a decent place for Lakers Fans to gather. Surely you can see where that course will lead us. its one thing to go after each other for Lakers thoughts, political fighting will absolutely destroy the Lakers blog.

Edwin,
"I'm not an Obama admirer but no candidate is worst than our present leader."

LOL! Obama is either almost clueless, as shown by his changing positions, or completely dishonest. Take your pick.

Sorry Fatty for stepping into the realm of politics,,,,,just hard to separate the vanishing value of dollars from political global perspective. It affects the economic well being of everyone. Anyway, I will stop from there.

Here is the news about the Lakers from Sam Amick of Sacramento Bee as of Monday. Sam Amick is also a blogger quoted by Hoopshype but I don't read the KBros on Hoops rumors.

http://tinyurl.com/5zgesp

Luke's salary

According to CNN's cost of living calculator, Luke's salary, 4.42 million dollars is equivalent to a salary of 2.87 million dollars in Atlanta. I wonder whether player's take cost of living into account when they sign contracts.

teams tuesday will be my 2 week anivesary here on los angeles times lakers blogs. while i began saying we needed lakers colors backgrond it never happen. i can say that it is now official and rony will not be playing los angeles lakers team he will be going to golden state warriors in north california. does that mean we now re signature sascha. yes i hopes so. i will say that most likely we do not trade lamar odom until our options improves. like some say he is a comodoty at $14 millions for expiring contract. what is the lastest on andy bynums progression. ok

ding how in prattville

EX,

I think you are the one who clueless. LMAO! oops no politics as per request of Fatty.

Justanothermambafan,

I will try to talk you off the ledge. Andrew had a simple scope of his knee done. Tons of players in all sports have that procedure done all the time with no lingering side affects. They only found some loose particles that needed to be removed so he could heal properly. I believe the only reason the whole oredeal lasted as long as it did was because Mitch was hoping we could have him back for the playoff so they delayed the scope. Ironically, if they had done the scope as soon as the swelling had went down, there would have been an outside chance that he could have played a little in the playoffs. I hadnt read anything about Andrew being vulnerable to dislocated knee caps before the injury. That would have been kind of wierd really. Anyway, what he had isnt as serious as a lot of other types of knee injuries are. Hopefully, it wont happen again.

MH

BREAKING NEWS!!

Jorge Garbajosa in a surprise move has chosen Moscow Kimki over Malaga and the Lakers.

Jorge Garbajosa link to his signing with Moscow Khimki

http://tinyurl.com/6yb7po

justanothermambafan,

There's an old saying that goes..."Don't borrow trouble." Andrew Bynum might still turn out to be that next laker great. Continue to have faith.

I'll say this though...and I've believed this for some time, I never worry about the lakers. Because we have here NBA gold. If Andrew Bynum is not the one (and he has a good shot to be the next great), another one will come. We are the great Los Angeles Lakers after all. Just look at the many many that have come to play in our Laker uniform. From Wilt to Kobe. Some pedigree lol.

That said, medicine has come a long way. When time was a baseball injury could end a career, then came Tommy-John surgery. There are many, many advancements in surgery and operations. If there's something wrong with Drew, we will find it and fix it..provided of course the inept group of men in our training group doesn't have a hand in it lol.. But like I said don't borrow trouble lol.

Go Lakers!

Anthony "Pig Bill" Miller & wow,

Thanks for your comments but with due respect, I am getting pretty tired of people telling me what I can and cannot do. I post what I think is important to be said and respond to posts by other bloggers with whom I agree and disagree. If you don’t want to read them, please just scroll past. It’s easier than getting all worked up and posting me.

When somebody addresses a post to me, like Long Time did, about Andrew Bynum, I am going to respond with what I think. What would you expect me to do, not respond to his post because you might not interested in what I have to say? Long Time was interested enough to direct his comments to me and I respect him enough to respond in kind. The great thing about this blog is interaction between commenters and bloggers within the blog like myself who generate their own unique posts and point of views on the Lakers.

By the same token, when I have something that is important to say or a point that I think needs to be made, I am going to do it, regardless of whether anybody agrees with or not. My other post, about how I expect the Lakers to reorganize their offense for next year with Drew as the primary scoring threat in our half-court offense rather than Kobe, was a brand new take by me of the Lakers offense with Andrew at center next year. It wasn’t rehashing the issues about Andrew’s contract extension or his health or any other issue discussed in the past. But you would have known that had you actually read it.

Tom

It doesn't matter that Europe is more expensive, if they're paying your taxes on a large amount of money, you're better off there.

If I was Childress, I'd really consider it. I mean, you're playing for Atlanta...

wow,

>>>...Bynum, but can the man play some bball in November first.

Or more importantly, can the man play some bball in June first.

LakerTom

>>>Long Time was interested enough to direct his comments
>>>to me and I respect him enough to respond in kind.

And I love to rabble rouse. I'm always up for a good discussion
(even a heated one) about the Lakers. Feel free to have the highest
expectations of Bynum. I hope you're right.

Posted by LakerTom

The irony, of course, is that what we really are getting with Kobe and Drew versus Kobe and Shaq is a center who will more than match Shaq in talent but also match Kobe in the motivation to win NBA championships and willingness to do the hard work to get there........
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Really, no Really
You claim Bynum will more than match Shaq in talent? Whatever you're smoking I want some of it. Bynum will never have close to the dominating game that Shaq had.
Also, how do you know that AB will have a better work ethic? The only reason AB worked hard last summer was because he was going into the do-or-die year of his contract to make decent money. He hadn't shown any special tendencies in work ethic prior to that.
Even now after more than half a year (from an 8-12 week injury) he isn't ready to play.
Be very careful what you wish for, if you look at his entire career you will see all the question marks. You don't give a mega contract to a player who hasn't done anything of significance, especially one who has suspect knees at 285 pounds.
The "Potential Card" does not translate into a max(or close to) contracts. Players like Wade, Lebron, Melo, Deron, and Paul all earned that kind of money after their 3rd year.
We will not offer Andrew any money before the Oct. 31 deadline if he has not fully recovered from his knee injury, we do not negotiate with damaged goods.
There is a reason why AB has been out so long.

Hey, even Budweiser bolted... for more cash.

Bynum 20 and 10 Next Year?

If he's as great as we think he is, he should get us 20 and 10 next year. If he does, Tom is right, he could be the first option in an inside out offense. Kobe would still outscore him but he could be the designated first option. In fact that would really spring Kobe open.

20 and 10 makes him an all star too I would think, wouldn't it?

Before he got injured he had a stretch of 5 games or so where he did get 20 and 10 I believe.

Was it a fluke, or was it his rite of passage into greatness?

We'll see this year. One thing is for sure, if he's injured he's no good to us. He has been injury prone since joining the team. If he can make it all year without a major injury then maybe he overcomes the "injury" label.

With Kobe the leading scorer, Bynum scoring 20 and 10, Gasol is bound to get you 15 or 20 and 10, that gives us a big three that would be hard to match.

Anyway I believe that is the test for Bynum this year. Will he get us 20 and 10? If he gets 10 and 10 or 12 and 10, he's just a good center, and nothing real special. And then we're still looking for that 3rd scorer, which we know every high-powered team needs.

Let's face it Kobe Gasol and Odom was good, but not quite highpowered enough offensively and not quite tough enough defensively.

If Bynum gets us the 20 and 10 next year, we have the high powered offensive attack and the tougher defense. And it's doubtful anyone stops the Lakers. (Whether we stand pat or not, it won't matter)

But if Bynum gets injured, or if he only gets us 10 and 10, then it sure would be nice to have someone like Artest, who toughens up your defense and who gets you 20 a night.

John

Good morning blog buddies.

Kobe says the Lakers and Team USA will become a defensive and rebounding powerhouse.

“No matter where you play or who you play against, if you’re playing pick-up ball at the YMCA, if you defend and you rebound, you’re going to win,” Bryant said. “That’s true anywhere you go. That’s something that we’ll focus on.”

http://www.nba.com/news/usadefense_080721.html

- Kobe really means this. Since the Finals loss. He's been winning at Candy Land with his daughters at a 90% clip. His per rating for kids games (6 and under) has gone up to 32.4 pts

Team USA schedule of games and events

http://tinyurl.com/6p9kqk

Friday at Five (Lakers Pacific Standard Time) on ESPN 2 a lousy Team Canada, now Dalembert less, will be the first team to be slaughtered by our guys.

Will you be watching Team USA munch on the Canucks?

These are troubling times for the NBA. And to make matters worse, the collective bargaining agreement doesn't expire until 2011. A lot of the rules that were implemented in agreements of the past (salary cap, rookie scale, luxury tax, age limit) are beginning to bite the NBA in the rear.

Troy S.,

I am not for trading LO, at all, but that deal you proposed is mighty enticing. Prince has mad game, he just got buried as the fourth option in Detroit, so he didn't get to show it off as much. Plus, the dude's a team player first with excellent skills on D. Maxiell would give us a solid big who could bang down low a little bit, a good upgrade over Ronny, as much as I hate to say it.

I love the idea of dumping Luke off, but I'm not sure if anyone would want him. I love even more of getting T-Mac out of the West and being one less star that we have to worry about.

Chauncey is not what he used to be, so I wouldn't see Houston as a major threat to us, though Yao, LO and Billups together is still formidable.

Still, let's keep what we got, re-sign Sasha and make a go of it next season. Keep the faith.

-bozz-

Great. nice. I come to discuss Lakers and I get the hawks...what a dumba$$ site. Lakers blog! Lakers blog! Come talk about the hawks..dumba$$es

Pig,

Unfortunately we don't have much to discuss right now except for crazy trade scenarios, Sasha Vuljcic, Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum's return.

So, if bloggers posts become kind of one dimensional, or the stray off target (like screaming how the Anaheim Ducks suck), I think it's understandable.

Recently, I feel like Laker Nation has become like a group of chain smokers who have had their cigarettes forcibly taken away, thrown into a cell, and had the door locked behind them.

A bunch of irritable addicts waiting for training camp.

78 days and counting...

GO LAKERS!

Jon K,

Keep in mind Naismith was Canadian...

I like john_in_houston's post. The Big 3 of Kobe, Bynum and Gasol are really the keys to the Lakers next year. If all 3 are healthy and Bynum's game goes up another level, then it doesn't really matter who else will be players 4 to 15 on the roster.
A 20-10 Bynum plus the Kobe and Gasol we already know, and LA's Big 3 trumps Celtic's Big 3. The Celtic Big 3 would have won the championship this year regardless of who were players 4 to 15 in their lineup.
Having a 20-10 Bynum (or 18-12) next year opens up the possibilities for Kobe in the same way that Shaq did in the 3peat. Kobes' scoring average may actually go down but his FG percentage and assists s/d go up and he can spend more energy on defense. The extra defense that an athletic 7 footer in Bynum and the extra perimeter defense from Kobe and Ariza basically takes care of the 2008 defense problems.
Toughness is a state of mind. After the 2008 Finals beating the Lakers received, they will be tougher in 2009. The showtime Lakers did not have a" tough" reputation in the beginning either but Bird's Celtics taught them.
That takes care of the only 2 problems Lakers had in not winning this year: defense and toughness. We don't need Artest to bring that. Lakers s/d just stand pat on the lineup.