man, i’m going to miss ronny

but at this time i’m just going to accept it, remember he was a good team player and move on

in reality, $17 million is too much for a role player who’s undersized as a 5 (where he typically plays) so there’s no way we will or SHOULD spend that much to retain ronny… no matter how much we love him

Ronny’s gonna get paid and for that, congrats

thanks for the memories

Turiaf gave Turner the scoop!

mike t.

p.s. Hey, how come no gave me my props when I reported that Kobe Bryant was going to come on Regis and Kelly last week?

Trade Lamar for Shawn Marion.

Go Lakers!

BTW - can we please stop with the trade L.O. stuff? Dude's not going anywhere.

Why do I feel like this is one of those romantic comedy tv shows...

"Will they, or won't they"

Let's hope we have ourselves a happy ending. Or not.

A Seinfeld ending may be in the cards lol.

Go Lakers!

Everyone here loves Ronny.
All want him to stay and almost all wish Buss will keep him.

But almost everyone understands the economics if the Lakers decide he has to go. Its the price we are paying for the signing of Gasol.

Before Gasol, Ronny was the back up to Bynum at center and Odom at the 4. Ronny was part of the rotation, back up for foul trouble, and injury fill-in.

This year if he stays, possible line up and rotation order.

Center: Bynum - Gasol - (Mihm, Ronny)

Forward: Gasol - LO - (Ronny, Vlad)

Small Forward: LO - Vlad - Ariza - Luke

Shooting Guard: Kobe - Sasha - Karl

Pt Guard: Fisher - Farmar - Sasha

Looking at the potential line up and rotations. Ronny could be the odd man out with the return of AB. If Mihm does well, Ronny could be eliminated altogether at center.

That could reduce Ronny to fill-in purposes.

If AB is in foul trouble. PJ would have two main options. Slide Pau to center and LO to the 4. Bring in Mihm or Ronny.
If Pau gets in foul trouble, LO could slide over to the 4 or Ronny comes in.

His biggest value would then come if we have an injury.

He would be a great asset to have. I hope Buss will match. 4.250 mil for Ronny is a bargain. 4.250 in lux tax is not.

I understand completely if Dr. Buss decides not to match. Lakers need to be financially sound to compete now and in the future.

If you ask us, he stays. If you ask the players and coaches, he stays. I know Mitch wants to keep him.

But its Dr. Buss's call. He's in the best position of anyone to make it. Its time for Buss to put on his Solomon's coat and make the best and wisest decision for the Lakers.

If we lose Ronny, I'll bet we get him back someday. He's a Laker for Life, much in the same mold as Derek Fisher. That is not to minimize the fact the it will, indeed, be a loss.

Hugo,

You have a good memory!

Yes, my wife's favorite laker is Turiaf. I say "is" because 4.25 is a BARGAIN for him. (I think he's worth 5)

I think Mitch and Jerry are doing exactly the right thing, let the market dictate the price and then match. Why overpay?

Maybe they're learning from the whole Luke thing. Talk about overpaying... yikes!

The Lakers are "clearing" cap space to sign someone. I think they'll pass on Ronny and maybe Sasha, too.

I mean if they signed both those guys, say at 6 million between them, that would be 10 million over the cap. They're already 4 million over, right?

That's a lot of money for not getting to the problems the Lakers suffer from. The lack of phyicality.

I don't think Buss minds going over the cap, since he's already over but I think he wants to get the right players because the window of opportunity isn't going to last forever with this group.

I think either way you cut it the Lakers are going to be 10 million over the cap this year. So they might as well get something that can help them then to stand pat with the same roster that can't win a Championship.

mike t.

Fatty:

Good point about Ronny’s ability in a pinch to play center. Some of his best minutes as a Lakers actually were when he was doing that and I had not factored his versatility into the decision even after I posted that Nelson was going to use him as back up center. I am now probably hoping that the Lakers match. Thanks for changing my mind.

Tom

Laker will match. I'm 100% almost positive.

Lakers made an offer to Kings for Artest - Odom Trade.

If Odom goes Lakers will have to sign Turiaf. Lakers need more time to know if they can get Artest.

If Odom goes Turiaf will get a lot of playing time in his natural position at PF.

Bynum/Gasol, Bynum/Turiaf, Gasol/Turiaf, Muhm/Turiaf

Classic,

I am with you 100%. I believe that had Turiaf had more consistent time on the floor he would have developed even further. His upside is still in the future as well. He's an excellent shot blocker, plays hard, plays good defense and rebounds. He is also a consistent shooter from the elbows. Lastly, but not least his personality is one of a kind and a big asset to this team.

I frankly felt he should have been named a starter once Gasol became acclamated enough with the triangle to play the 4. This would have given the Lakers a look at Gasol as a forward and the Lakers a look at the big front line - even before Bynum returned. I also have long liked the idea of the versitile but inconsistent Odom coming off the bench - so Phil could have still kept the floor spread with a shooter at the 3 and used Odom to fill spots as the game dictated.

The Lakers will regret having lost Turiaf if they don't sign him. He will develop into a very good player in Golden State.

Those who mention him behind Mihm on the depth chart must not have watched very many Laker games this year. Turiaf is a better player than Mihm even if Mihm regains his old form. Right now, still having not recovered - Mihm is terrible.

The glaring mistake of signing Radmonavich and the other mistake of paying too much for Walton will become magnified if it turns out the Lakers can't afford to sign Turiaf. He is a much better player than either of those two. As much as I like Walton as a role player and the intangibles he brings - I don't want to lose Turiaf because of his salary.

BTW - can we please stop with the trade L.O. stuff? Dude's not going anywhere.

Posted by: Caliphilosopher | July 10, 2008 at 06:11 PM
-------------------------

I strongly second that. Seriously guys, it needs to stop.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

Caliphilosopher,

>>>BTW - can we please stop with the trade L.O. stuff?
>>>Dude's not going anywhere.

Of course he's not. But it wouldn't feel like summer if there
weren't at least 50 Lamar Odom trade rumors floating around.

My gut tells me Lamar is gonna go. He's been great, but his contract is so heavy, and the Lakers have the core of Drew, Pau, and Kobe. They need more gritty players like Ron Artest to truly put them over the top.

Do the deal, but not for Kenny Thomas. Do it with Ron-Ron and Shareef.

After looking at the salaries, I think the deal with Shareef is a decent one. Two players for one. Add the defense of Artest, and in the third year when Drew's extension kicks in, both of those players will be off of the books. The problem is going to be having DPK all with big money deals. We're going to have to find some really cheap players or Buss is going to have to pay the tax for at least the next three seasons.

Yesterday, in my post I predicted that Ronny T. would still be a Laker after the 7th day.

However, I kept on raising concern on the total payroll which will be in the vicinity of 90M afer Drew is re-signed. As Laker fans, we have to place ourselves in the shoes of the owner who will be paying $ for $ of luxury taxes. There are times when I raised their greed in increasing ticket prices for the 4th consecutive but this is also be the time to be reasonable and play by the rules.

Last night, Sac.com released a news report that Mitch is inquiring about Ron Artest and offered Lamar Odom. We all loved Lamar but he has 14M expiring contract next season. Lakers can win another Championship with Lamar but they can also lose one if he kept on disappearing in some games. It is a roll of the dice. Ron Artest has a salary 8M + one player in order to match salaries. With regards to these players, there are two competing groups in the blog, one favors Lamar b/c of his familiarity with the offense and the other favors Ron Artest as a defensive player, provided he'll be a team player.

If Ron Artest offer goes thru, then there is no need of getting Ronny T. The overall objective is to trim down the total payroll to 75M. Right now the Lakers are trying to get these players in this order: Artest,( thru trade) Posey and Kurt Thomas ( thru MLE). They are all defensive players to replace Ronny T. If there is no success in getting any one of them in that order, most probably, Lakers will match Ronny T. 4.25M. I see poker game in all these bets, Jerry Buss opened a lot of fronts and wait which will materialize.

Now let's put our shoes under the Maloof Bros, eventually they will be the one deciding these vital trades not Mr. Petrie, will you not welcome Odom's 14M in getting rid of their perrenial headache, Ron Artest? Is there anybody out there available better than Odom? Odom will lead the Sacramento Kings young line up and if he does not pan out in the Coach Theuss system, there is 14M that will bring them below the salary cap. As part of the negotiation, they're dangling the contract of Kenny Thomas as part of the deal, it would be nice if we also include Luke-Vlad. On the 2nd thought, Kenny Thomas could be worst than Luke or Vlad because he's T/O prone and only 6'7" while giving away Vlad 3 pt and a 6'10". How about Mikki Moore and Ron Artest for Lamar Odom?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt
=Ag5TcIEI2IDIXOlj1YQkEJy8vLYF?slug=
txlakersturiaf&prov=st&type=lgns

"The Lakers’ payroll is $75.1 million, with the tax for the 2008-09 campaign being triggered at $71.15 million."

I do believe that 4 million in luxury taxes. Adding Turiaf's contract is going to increase that, not to mention Sasha.

I meant to say luxury tax. Again, either way you cut it, it's going to be at least 10 million in luxury taxes.

mike t.

After the Lakers beat the Kings back when Horry made that last second shot....that Maloof Bros. will never trade Artest to the Lakers. NEVER! The Maloof Bros. think they got cheated out of that series, which they feel robbed them of the championship that year. They hate the Lakers.

Lamar Odom does nothing for the Kings except be Lamar Odom. But Artest does a lot for the Lakers and now these silly people have the nerve to suggest that the Maloof Bros. will trade Artest to the Lakers? Gee...How ignorant can people really be?

mike t.

Gee, it just doesn't end does it?

Look at this crazy scenario:

"They would do that by trading Lamar’s $14.5M expiring contract for Artest’s $8.5M expiring contract plus either Thomas’ $8M contract or Abdur-Rahim’s $6M contract, either of which would expire in 2 years. They would then re-sign Artest to a cheaper contract than Lamar would demand, letting Thomas’s and Abdur-Rahim’s contracts run out after next year to reduce overall salaries. "

Aaaah, yeah...only Kobe Bryant will be about 40 years old by the time all that works out. LOL!

mike t.

If I were Ronny Turiaf....unfortunately, I am not, this how I will attack my career plan in NBA.

Facts of the case:

Lakers are over luxury threshold, cannot offer too much.
I play back up PF in the 2nd string and enjoying the team camaraderie
I am indebted with the Lakers for adding lease on my life on timely discovery of cardiac surgery
I will learn the post play with Kareem, Bynum and Pau
I know the Lakers will reward players who are loyal and patient, they did that Kurt Rambis and also Rick Fox

Therefore:

I would just go for 3M and 25% every year, on third year, I will go for player option to go for bigger bucks. Definitely, I need improve first myself as a power forward, I need improve my shooting especially those mid jumpers and F/T %. If I compute my earnings based on minutes played, I think Lakers contract is much better than being the go-to guy in GS.

The die has been cast, Lakers may match or not match and I will be a Warrior. They expect me to do all the rebounds feeding Jackson, Harrington and Maggette. Am I healthy to play 30 minutes per game? If I don't succeed with the Warriors, this could be the start of becoming a full pledged journeyman. Sometimes, good offers are deceiving in the long run when you draw a career path.

I didn't know this was the "ding how" blog... now he's dreaming he's going to change the blog by Saturday? methinks "ding how" has been drinking too much hooch this evening...

oh no i just volunteer here. i dont want to be agresive. i want input form all of you. i look forward to changes but i plan on not making changes just to heavens sake. i would like to fly to los angeles and meet with brian and andy kamenetski but i need to see if they can fund the tour for us to meet. another idea i have is to have a small image of all bloggers when they post to make this enviroment friendly. i will not suspenses you for this saturday. i want to see that los angeles times lakers blog can maintain requirement before i make this change.
just as a cortesy no problem.

ding how in prattville.

Edwin, you're right that Turiaf has less risks staying with the Lakers, but I doubt that the Lakers were even thinking of paying him $3 million a year. I think they were thinking around $2. But even if they offer him $3 million a year, $4.25 million a year is over 40% more. It's not like being offered $13 million versus $14.25 million a year which is not a huge difference as a percentage. In addition, he'd definitely get more playing time with Golden State, and if he ever wants to become a star in the NBA, he needs playing time. You're right though that without star players around him, and with opposing teams keying on him, he'll have a much harder time shining, but he definitely won't get there by sitting on the bench, which is possible if he has to share time with Gasol, Bynum, Odom, and Mimh.