wow,

>>>>> The NBA should increase their salary cap to $80 million. There are so many
>>>>>good bball players in the world that it makes no sense to not pay them to play
>>>>>in the NBA, which to me is the highest pro league for bball.
>>>>>With good players now opting to play oversees, it will take away NBA's value
>>>>>as the top pro league in the world. Teams are pretty much getting to the current
>>>>>salary cap easily, and losing quality players because of it,
>>>>>which is taking their competitive edge away.

I agree with you that the present CBA is becoming a little outdated due to the inflation of salaries. Of course, that is what the owners want: forced restraint to keep them from spending a higher percentage of revenues on salaries. I suspect when the CBA comes up for renewal in 2011, there will be discussion about possibly raising the salary cap and/or changing the amount allowed by the MLE (could you say, MLE +20%, meaning that you could pay one free agent per year 20% greater than the MLE even if you are over the cap.

You do have to give the NBA credit for their innovative contract with the players union, however, as they got two things right that other pro leagues haven’t: (1) a salary scale for rookies so that they don’t skim off the big money from players who have earned it with play and (2) giving teams the ability to offer more money and years to keep free agent players from signing with other teams.

The NFL and MLB could learn a lot from the NBA about structuring their next contract with the players, which the NFL is now doing, having raised the issue of a fixed salary scale for draft picks rather than paying them big guaranteed dollars.

Tom

LakerTom,

Really nice post about Jordan. He seems like a pretty good and interesting guy. Thoughtful, both him andyour post.

I think people are more worried by him than they assume he's not a starting NBA point guard for us (he certainly could be already on some teams). I know I'm more worried than interested in kvetching about any perceived inability. I think his mad offense, take shots and seem to deliberately not acknowledge Kobe on the floor stuff was a little disconcerting as was his D, but the gun for hire and not pass to Kobe stuff got fixed later in the season and in the Finals. I know one thing about the guy. He will get better every year.

That brings me to Ariza. My impression is the same as yours. I think he'll work hard to improve and that's essential to play with a guy like Kobe.

As for odds makers, it's important to remember how they operate. These guys try to make lines so 50 percent of people bet one way and 50 percent bet another so they keep a nice 10 percent juice with limited complications.

Therefore it is the biases of the bettors that is reflected in the line, not the predictions of the odds makers.

Puddle

Of course, Hollinger's PER ratings are just one of many statistical analyses. Check out the Roland ratings at 82games.com for instance.

http://www.82games.com/0708/0708LAL.HTM

Trevor also comes off much worse at NBA.com (7.68 compared to 22.31) and at sportsline.com (25.48 to 67.14).

Trevor's on/off court net was -7.5; LO's was +2.4

I really don't care to rely too much on stats, but of course they have some relevance.

>>>I was comparing him to LO in terms of rebounds. Luke
>>>is an average rebounder and Vlad is below average.

LO played at PF last season and was one of the best rebounders
in the league, so I'm not sure that's a particularly fair comparison.
If Ariza was doing as well as LO, he'd be one of the best in the league.

>>>Sasha's a much better ball handler and far better 3pt.
>>>shooter than Trevor.

And Sasha is a shooting guard, who is more expected to shoot
3's than most SFs.

You didn't mention that Ariza doesn't get as many assists
as Fisher on the team or that he doesn't get as many
blocks as Bynum.

Just limit yourself to comparing Ariza to Walton and Rad,
as those are the only SFs on the Lakers roster where you
can make a direct comparison.

Benjamin,

I dont really see how you can claim to be against the Kidd trade (and presumably agree with both drafting and holding onto Bynum) while at the same time stating that management managed to mishandle Kobe.

There is a lot we dont know about this situation but the one thing we do know is that Kobe was clearly annoyed that the Kidd deal (among dubious others) wasn't made...This would have been a deal that management,myself..and by the sounds of it yourself - found to be too much.If Kobe was pushing management beyond the realms of sensible decision making regarding what was best for the franchise as a whole then they are right to stand their ground.You can't mortgage your franchises future and make unsound business decisions to keep one player happy when they can opt out - no matter who he is and from the evidence I see Kobe was asking too much.

As I said before this was based on a misunderstanding.Kobe took the words 'win now' far too literally...and managment assumed he understood some of the other basic restrictions they would be working under like not selling your stocks at the wrong time...or ensuring that there would be a half decent team 2 seasons down the line or thinking ahead regarding salary caps etc...wrong time to trade Bynum pure and simple.I think that much is clear - if it happened to irritate Kobe because he disagreed - I dont see how management can be blamed.

To me every NBA team adopts an approach...and it was clear to me how the lakers had chosen to go about things.I can handle mistakes - its part of the nature of the job but I like the fact the lakers never compounded them by trying to overcompensate under imense pressure - that is extremely impressive.

Look at the way the knicks handle things...bringing in new players and names to try to distract everyone and keep them interested.Maybe Isiah managed to keep his job for too long but Mitch wanted to win...The lakers never went for the easy trade they stood by their mistakes until such time came as they could genuinely correct them....you can call it luck or accident but the proof is in the fact the team has turned around at remarkable speed.Thats all that matters.

Does it mean they wont make mistakes? no ...but on the whole you can feel comfortable in their approach.This team genuinely wants to win and have been operating that way for years...the problem was lack of patience becasue expectations were far too high and it was going to require a certain amount of time.I repeat was ALWAYS happy with the approach the team was taking and could understand their moves and non moves in the context of what they were trying to achieve.. if you dont believe me you can find posts on this blog going back over the last two years saying just that.The lakers are in good hands - trust me....not Gods hands but good hands.

If you care to read a few other posts you'll see that I certainly dont wear rose coloured glasses but consider myself a realist (dont we all)

Lakertom/Benjamin

I'm sure they would have always made the Gasol deal if it was offered to them as it eventually happened.Im sure memphis were holding out to see what other offers they got etc.But I find it difficult to believe that they wouldnt have leapt on that deal even if they felt they had no use for Gasol at all.

I dont pay much attention to what these guys say - whether its Kobe ,Phil,Mitch or whoever...its all politics.My guess is that Mitch wanted to make sure he didnt insult or dishearten his young injured centre...and clearly Gasol was not a one season prospect and can now be played,traded or whatever...

If you are taking your lack of faith from some comments for the media after one of the trades of the decade then you need to tighten things up!

As far as Kwame was concerned they would have held onto him if they couldnt get enough for him at that time but clearly hoped to trade him.It just so happened that they did get the kind of offer they were waiting for.Kwame was a final chance in the short term to get the extra player they needed to put them over the top WITHOUT losing Kobe ,Lamar or Bynum as was generally agreed by everyone.Simple plan,patience and ultimately perfect execution.They knew exactly what they needed to do and they were going to wait until they got that opportunity.

Furthermore - the plan was basically to be fielding a competing team by Kobe's opt out year...improve year by year...the only thing that they underestimated was perhaps the expectations and Kobe wanting to get out of his contract.

If you are still reading then thank you

john_in_houston,

>>>But they've lost Turiaf and haven't replaced him. Nor
>>>have they made any moves to improve anywhere.

Not quite true.

If all the talk on espn.com and elsewhere is true, there has
been a lot of action in the Lakers front office this summer.

They've reportedly talked to teams about trades for Ron Artest
and Luol Deng. They've reportedly talked to players like
Brent Barry,
Kurt Thomas, and James Posey. They've reportedly talked to
Sun Yue's people about having him join the team this fall
(which
I think will happen). Just because they didn't complete a deal
in any of those cases doesn't mean they aren't trying to fill
Ronny's roster spot (nobody can replace him) &/or improve
the team.

Sometimes the best deals are the ones that didn't get done.

Remember, all of Mitch's talk from the start of the offseason
was that they felt the team was within reach of a title, and
with adding Bynum and Ariza back into the team, they would
be good enough. So I wouldn't expect any dramatic trades
(like the ones I've been describing here).

My expectation based on the past few seasons is that Mitch
will re-sign Sasha, sign one or two low salaried players
(Robert Horry? Cakeboy? Quinton Ross? Lorenzo Mata-Real?),
bring Sun Yue up to the big leagues and then call it a summer.

And I think that's actually the best course he could take.
Despite the fact that I'm the one posting more trade scenarios
than anyone, I think the team would be best off to stand pat
as much as possible. Obviously they need another backup
big or two, but otherwise I think they're good to go.

Kiwi,

>>>>>I'm sure they would have always made the Gasol deal if it was offered to them
>>>>>as it eventually happened. I’m sure Memphis were holding out to see what other
>>>>>offers they got etc. But I find it difficult to believe that they wouldn’t have leapt
>>>>>on that deal even if they felt they had no use for Gasol at all.

I thought you made great points about the Lakers front office and in general I share your confidence. Mitch did say, however, that they would not have made the trade for Pau had Drew not been injured, which really does not make sense. It was a clear and direct quote, though, which is why I still harbor seeds of doubt despite my faith.

Tom

Puddle

That 5 spent 47 minutes on the floor together all season. Think I'll ignore that particular stat. Besides Odom was also part of that 5, and my point is that Odom should start and Trevor should come off the bench, not that we should be looking for another SF.

Long Time,

>>>>>My expectation based on the past few seasons is that Mitch
>>>>>will re-sign Sasha, sign one or two low salaried players
>>>>>(Robert Horry? Cakeboy? Quinton Ross? Lorenzo Mata-Real?),
>>>>>bring Sun Yue up to the big leagues and then call it a summer.

I agree except for one other small detail you neglected to include, which is signing Drew to a 5-year extension for $50M to $70M. :-)

Tom

Long Time,

>>>>>My expectation based on the past few seasons is that Mitch
>>>>>will re-sign Sasha, sign one or two low salaried players
>>>>>(Robert Horry? Cakeboy? Quinton Ross? Lorenzo Mata-Real?),
>>>>>bring Sun Yue up to the big leagues and then call it a summer.

I agree except for one other small detail you neglected to include, which is signing Drew to a 5-year extension for $50M to $70M. :-)

Tom

Long Time,

>>>>>My expectation based on the past few seasons is that Mitch
>>>>>will re-sign Sasha, sign one or two low salaried players
>>>>>(Robert Horry? Cakeboy? Quinton Ross? Lorenzo Mata-Real?),
>>>>>bring Sun Yue up to the big leagues and then call it a summer.

I agree except for one other small detail you neglected to include, which is signing Drew to a 5-year extension for $50M to $70M. :-)

Tom

Long Time,

>>>>>The salary cap is calculated as a % of profits by all the teams
>>>>>in the league (I think it's either 45% or 55%, I'm not sure).

>>>>>If the league were making a lot more money, the cap would
>>>>>immediately go up.

I have a hunch that the salary cap will stay the same just because it is tied to percentage of profits. The change that makes sense is to replace the MLE with an exception that is worth maybe 20% more. This would allow the players in the $6M to $8M range a better opportunity to make money via free agency rather than seeing them have to settle for less than they are worth or jump to Europe for more money.

Tom

Long Time,

>>>>>My expectation based on the past few seasons is that Mitch
>>>>>will re-sign Sasha, sign one or two low salaried players
>>>>>(Robert Horry? Cakeboy? Quinton Ross? Lorenzo Mata-Real?),
>>>>>bring Sun Yue up to the big leagues and then call it a summer.

I agree except for one other small detail you neglected to include, which is signing Drew to a 5-year extension for $50M to $70M. :-)

Tom

Posted by: LakerTom | July 23, 2008 at 03:56 PM

====================
Laker Tom,
I think AB will be signed so not really a change. Amount TBD. LOL