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.